Delay in senior government funding risky for megaproject: city

CITY officials fear Winnipeg will face new risks on its most expensive infrastructure project if it can’t secure the last round of senior government funding to support it within the next month.

Winnipeg water and waste leaders say confirmation that the provincial and federal governments will each pay one-third of the cost for the third and final phase of the nearly $3.1-billion North End sewage treatment plant upgrade would go a long way to ensuring multiple companies compete for the work.

“It’s a risk because there’s so many projects (companies) can bid on … and they’re going to (choose) the one that has the least risk for them. Our goal is to reduce as much risk as possible and one way to do that is to get confirmation the project is moving forward and that we have the funding. So, we need that by May 20th,” said Cynthia Wiebe, the department’s manager of engineering.

Wiebe said bids are due June 19 for the design contract for the $1.57-billion nutrient removal project needed to complete the upgrade and greatly reduce the amount of algae-promoting nutrients that flow out of the plant.

Since contractors need time to prepare for the large, complicated project, clear funding commitments would ideally come a month prior to that date, she said.

Without the funding confirmation, the city could attract fewer bids for the work and less competitive prices, said Tim Shanks, Winnipeg’s director of water and waste.

“If you’re a bidder and you’re going to … finalize your bid on this project, you have to be convinced the project is real … that it’s going to happen,” said Shanks.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said he’s also concerned about getting a senior government funding commitment for the project in place as soon as possible.

“We need provincial funding, we need federal funding secured for this project to proceed. Otherwise, we have to go to a plan where we look at funding the entirety of Phase 3 through water and sewer rates … That would mean people’s water and sewer bills would go up hundreds and hundreds of dollars a year. We don’t want that. We want to maintain affordability,” said Gillingham.

The mayor said his office is communicating with senior governments on a near-daily basis about the need to complete the upgrade.

“We only have weeks, months. I’ve said that consistently,” said Gillingham.

The mayor said discussions are going well and he’s confident the project will be completed, though he fears delays could lead its price to rise again.

“The sooner that funding is confirmed … the more certainty we have, the less likely it is that we’re going to see significant cost increases. So, we need this confirmation and clarity from (the) provincial and federal governments over the next weeks,” he said.

A provincial spokesperson did not directly answer questions about the specific concerns the city raised on the timing of funding this week.

However, a spokesperson noted Premier Wab Kinew commented on the project Friday, when he was also asked about funding.

“We have a stream of funding to the City of Winnipeg called the … strategic infrastructure basket. It’s about $100 million a year, currently about $30 (million a year) goes toward the north end (sewage treatment plant). As we go ahead to the next phases, we’ll be directing more of that stream of funding to meet the need,” said Kinew.

The premier stressed his government is committed to the project.

“We’re going to build the north end water pollution control centre, we’re going to protect Lake Winnipeg in the process,” said Kinew.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga