The District of Houston council is now deciding what to do with $4.486 million it’s getting from the provincial government, the largest grant the District has ever received from a senior government.
The money is part of the $100 million announced in February by the provincial government for northern B.C. local governments to do with as they please.
It’s meant to recognize the challenges smaller local governments have in the north who don’t have a large tax base in either maintaining or replacing aging infrastructure such as roads and sewer and water systems.
Speaking last week, District of Houston mayor Shane Brienen said a portion of the money will go toward the ongoing effort at revitalizing Hwy. 16 as it passes through the community.
“Infrastructure will be a priority. Attraction [of investment] and retention to the downtown is a priority for the District. We’re looking at water and sewer services there. This money will help,” he said of the Hwy16 work.
Council will also be looking at a project list being prepared by District staffers.
“Thanks to our excellent staff, they’ll come back with a list. We have an asset management program now in place and that will help. We’ll be looking at paving and upkeep of roads as well,” said Brienen.
Local governments can also use the money as their contributions in applying for other senior government grant programs.
That’ll help counter a longstanding problem smaller communities have which is not having the resources in the first place to come up with their own contributions to qualify for partnership programs with senior governments, Brienen said.
The Houston grant works out to more than $1,000 for each of the District’s residents.
Burns Lake received $3.439 million, Smithers $6.218 million and the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako received $5.8 million.
All told, 26 local governments — 22 municipalities and four regional districts — from Prince George to Haida Gwaii received a portion of the $100 million.
Prince George at $8.135 million, Terrace at $8.197 million and Prince Rupert at $8.121 million topped the list.
The money was distributed based on a flat amount then adjusted by a local government’s population. Smaller local governments without large commercial or industrial tax bases divided 60 per cent of the $100 million.
Kitimat received $1.556 million, the second lowest amount on the distribution list, a reflection of its existing strong industrial tax base thanks to the Rio Tinto aluminum smelter being within its boundaries.
Stewart received the least of all local governments — $1.294 million.
While local governments can do whatever they want with the money, it must be kept in a specific account and annual reports issued as to it is being used.
The District of Houston’s two previous largest grants were approximately $3 million for a water treatment plant and $2.36 million for a water reservoir.
READ MORE: Province announces $100-million grant funding for Northwest communities
RELATED: Burns Lake, RDBN welcome $100 million grant
The Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN) received $5.8 million, said Gerry Thiessen, mayor of Vanderhoof and chair of the RDBN board of directors.
“We are looking forward to discussing what we can do on infrastructure and should we be able to leverage it with another source of funding,” he added.
