Though difficult to make such an announcement sound glamourous or exciting, it's one that's necessary, said Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond in announcing the provincial government's contribution to a local infrastructure project.
The province is one of the funding partners in upcoming work worth $1.4 million to fix erosion along the Fraser River Bench Lands near Lower College Heights.
Bond, along with Prince George-Peace River MP Bob Zimmer, Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris and Prince George Mayor Lyn Hall, made the announcement Friday afternoon of the city's successful grant application to the joint federal-provincial Build Canada Small Communities Fund.
The federal and provincial governments will each contribute up to $470,000 with the city responsible for making up the rest.
To prevent ongoing soil erosion and property damage, the money will be used to build a new 67-metre stormwater conveyance system, said Zimmer.
The erosion that has happened over the years has made the area unsafe for recreational activities, said Hall.
According to a staff report submitted to council before the grant application was approved in February, the damage was caused by runoff from drainage from the entire watershed, consisting of 560 hectares in College Heights. This resulted in a 20-metre cliff in a forested area that's not clearly visible.
"The project will make the area safe for future developments such as public green space and will improve the public safety in this neighbourhood for those currently living there as well as those areas to be developed. It will also allow trail development to occur as originally intended in a safe manner, as a major selling feature for this neighbourhood and for College Heights and all of Prince George," said Hall. "So to put it in technical terms: this is a really big deal for us. Maybe not real glamourous, but it's a really big deal."
The application for this funding was the subject of a special council meeting in February, where Hart Highlands residents pleaded their case for a grant application to be made to support sanitary sewer installation work. Residents in the area are facing thousands of dollars worth of work to switch from septic systems to city services.
With money in place, the project can be put out to tender, said city interim public works director Dave Dyer, who added that the work to re-establish the drainage channel would likely start in mid to late fall.
The erosion was identified as a problem as early as 2008, Dyer said, when development was starting in the area. While the developer of the subdivision at the riverbank is directly contributing about six per cent of the cost toward the work, much of the water comes from the broader College Heights area.
"So that's why the city has had to take this on," he said.
