Sewer system to get fixed: Province approves $2.25 million for long needed upgrades in Rainy River

By Ken Johnston
Editor

Late Friday afternoon the Town of Rainy River received the best news it has heard in years.
The provincial government notified the community that it has approved $2.25 million in funding for the town to fix its long time sewer system problem that has seen the community’s hands tied when trying to grow in any way.
For years the Ministry of Environment has had an order in place prohibiting any new development in Rainy River due to the sewer system being stressed to the maximum, especially during rain storms. With the announcement Friday, Mayor Deb Ewald is very optimistic that Rainy River can now work towards a positive future. “Councillor Gord Armstrong told me the town has been working on this issue for 14 years,” said Ewald Monday.
The $2.25 million will be used to upgrade the lift station at the south end of Sixth Street and for a new sewer lagoon just north of the CNR tracks. “Once completed MoE has said they will lift the order off and we can start working on attracting development,” said an excited Mayor Ewald. “I hope this is the spark that starts us up again.”
The money was announced by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal as part of their Rural Infrastructure Investment Initiative (RIII). The town decided after being turned down three times by the Canada Ontario Municipal Renewal Infrastructure Fund (COMRIF) to try applying to the RIII instead.
“This funding is great and it is even a better program than COMRIF,” explained Ewald as it is 100% dollars. “This will not cost the taxpayers of Rainy River any money where as COMRIF was 1/3 (federal) 1/3 (provincial) 1/3 (local) dollars.”
The Mayor is hopeful that tenders and construction will begin this summer, but she was unsure of what parameters the province will put on the project. “We may need to hire an engineer to oversee it, but we have done extensive work with engineers on the system here already. So I am hopeful we will be proceeding very soon.”
With these improvements and the revitalization of the middle blocks of town a few years ago, Ewald is confident that the town will be in almost 100% ship shape for development. The only area that she still has concern with is a section of Atwood Ave. where there is a lot of infiltration. “Perhaps in a few years we can access another funding program and fix that area too.”
“Without this project we have been dead in the water (for years),” said the Mayor. “I hope this is the impetus for the town to start moving forward.”
Other communities receiving RIII funding in this area were as follows:
Dawson-$182,250
Emo-$100,000
Fort Frances-$1.06 million
Sioux Narrows/NF-$130,000
Kenora-$300,000
Atikokan-$659,729.13