The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is one step closer to getting more than $16 million in disaster mitigation and adaptation funding.
Municipal staff is recommending that Mayor Darrin Canniff and the clerk sign the official letter that would enter Chatham-Kent into an agreement with the Government of Canada.
The agreement is that the municipality will provide a total of $24.8 million while the federal government will provide $16.6 million for the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) grant program.
The federal government set aside a total of $2 billion in funding over 10 years for the DMAF. In July 2018, Chatham-Kent applied for $16.6 million in funding. In March, it was announced that the municipality was approved for the full amount of funding that was applied for, as long as all the conditions of the grant were adhered to and an agreement with the Government of Canada was executed.
According to the Government of Canada website, the DMAF program aims to "to support large-scale infrastructure projects to help communities better manage the risks of disasters triggered by natural hazards." The DMAF grant is a cost-sharing program with the Municipality providing 60 per cent of funding and the federal government providing 40 per cent funding.
A minimum of $25 million worth of infrastructure projects was required to qualify for the grant. Some of the projects included in Chatham-Kent's application include various dike investigations and repairs across the municipality as well as various slope stabilization projects.
"Upon execution of the agreement, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent is responsible for carrying out the projects according to the terms, conditions and timelines within the agreement," stated the staff report. "Acquisition of goods and services under the agreement is to be conducted through a process that promotes the best value for money, and complies with the municipality’s purchasing policies and procedures."
Assuming the agreement is signed and the municipality moves forward with the DMAF process, the average annual funding requirement for Chatham-Kent will be approximately $2.5 million a year over a 10-year period. The funding can be approved on a yearly basis during budget deliberations.
The staff recommendation will go up for council approval on Monday night.