The Town of Witless Bay called a special meeting this past week so it could get an application for federal capital works funding in on time.
The town requested money for three projects. The first is upgrades to Tuff’s Road at a cost of $400,000. That project would be cost shared at a 50/50 split, leaving the town on the hook for $230,000, including HST. The second project is upgrades to Harbour Road at a cost of $470,000. That project would also be cost shared 50/50. The towns portion would be $270,250.
For both projects, the town would borrow money from the bank over a seven-year term. For the smaller project, the town would have to pay $3,092 monthly. For the bigger job, the Harbour Road upgrades, the town would have to pony up $3,632 monthly.
Council is also requesting funds for emergency generators at both the fire hall and the Puffin Centre. Combined, the generators would cost $180,000. Cost shared at 90/10, the town would pay $20,700, which would be borrowed from the bank at a cost for $377 a month for a five-year term.
Mayor Trevor Croft said the generators are much-needed.
“If the power goes out, our emergency centres are the fire station and the Puffin Centre, and neither of those have back up generators,” he said. “So, we’re looking to get a generator for the town hall/fire station and one for the Puffin Centre so we can have warming centres for the residents in case of an emergency.”
He added the town has been experiencing a number of outages lately.
“We lose power at least twice a week in Witless Bay,” said Croft. “For ten minutes to a half an hour usually. About twice a week for the past two months. It’s getting on our nerves.
As far as he knows the only backup generator currently in town is at Alderwood Retirement Home.
“But we can’t all pile in there, so it will be nice to have something to rely on.”
