166 Business View - November 2015
throughout town,” says Waugh-Cress.
“We made an application under the Building Canada
Fund, something the provincial and federal governments
have been working together on to help fund infrastructure
projects of this nature in Canada,” he recounts. “That will
provide two thirds of the funds for the project. The one
third we are supplying will be paid for out of our capital
reserves and our general rates, as well as a capital charge
to each of the properties fronting the system. If you don’t
want to hook up to the water system after you’ve had the
capital charge levied, you don’t have to pay a monthly rate
to have the water line there. Every resident or business
that does use our water, we’ll meter and they’ll pay for the
water that they use.”
Recently, the Municipality of the County of Cumberland,
and provincial and federal officials announced that $14.9
million was being set aside for the project, which will re-
quire about 24 kilometers of pipe for distribution and
transmission mains. So, this past month, the municipal-
ity awarded a preliminary engineering design contract to
WSP Canada, Inc., amajor design and consulting firm, and
Waugh-Cress reports that more contracts will be awarded
sometime in October or November. “At that point, we’ll be
very quickly awarding the detailed and final design, with
the intention of going to tender in the early spring of 2016.
The water should be in place by the last quarter of 2017,”
he says.
The Pugwash Water Supply Project will service more than
330 residents, as well as light industrial plants and other
businesses in the area. In addition, there will likely be an
immediate, positive impact on the local economy. “There’ll
be more people in the area building this. There’ll be rooms
rented and there’ll be food bought when the contractors
and businesses and companies are in town,” Waugh-
Cress says. But, perhaps, more important, are the long-
term benefits that will accrue to the community after the
project is completed. “We see this as kind of a cornerstone
of a larger economic strategy and development strategy
within the community of Pugwash,” he says. “Without a
water system to promote a greater density of development
or support a large fixed-roof accommodation, there can’t
INFRASTRUCTURE
