Council approves $184K for Horsefly Spillway cost sharing agreement

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

 On July 21, Taber town council approved the remittance of $184,263 to the MD for the Town’s remaining partnership contribution towards Phase two and three of the Horsefly Spillway Project of the South Regional Stormwater Drainage Committee. The contribution will be funded from reserves.

 The outstanding amount owing from the Town of Taber was almost $205K, however a credit dating back to the Town’s initial contribution was applied to the invoice and the total amount was reduced to just over $184K.

 The project is an expansion of an existing emergency spillway that diverts overland floodwaters and stormwater runoff from the St. Mary River Irrigation District’s main canal to the Oldman River. It is located mainly on private lands near Taber and would increase the diversion capacity of the existing spillway from approximately 7.6 m3/s to 47 m3/s.

 Phases one and three are complete, but phase two (A) from Red Trail north to the Taber Lake reservoir is preparing for tender. The budget for phases two and three was listed at almost $43 million. A funding shortfall of over $6.6 million and cash flow shortfall of just under $10.4 million remain on the budget summary.

 The construction budget was the pre-tender budget that was estimated at an earlier date, and once the tender for phase two is complete, the figure will be updated.

The project has federal support through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, which funds 40 per cent of eligible expenses. The Alberta Community Resilience Program (ACRP) funds 90 per cent of eligible costs on the first $3M and 70 per cent of eligible costs on remaining costs. Grant funds must be cost-shared, including on any interest earned. The Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund funds 40 per cent of eligible expenses.

 Municipal partners include every town and county along Highway 3 between Lethbridge County and Medicine Hat. The smaller counties and villages are not significant contributors, but the larger ones have made commitments to amounts in the hundreds of thousands. The MD has been the largest contributor, with almost $2 million to date.

 The cost sharing amount required from the municipal partners through the ACRP grant program is estimated at about $9.3 million. To date, only $8.1 has been committed by those partners. Of the committed amount, $5.5 million has been received, leaving a shortfall of approximately $3.7 million.