In The News
Water plan slowed to level off tax hike
Source: The Hamilton Spectator
The city has to put the brakes on an ambitious multibillion-dollar plan to upgrade the city’s water system because it’s too expensive.
The slowdown will mean several key projects — including harbour cleanup, the opening up of airport industrial lands and flooding control — can’t be finished as quickly as the city hoped.
At the centre of the city’s $2-billion, 10-year plan is the $700-million upgrade to the Woodward Avenue wastewater treatment plant.
Right now, the aging plant is running at full capacity. Any development plans — including the aerotropolis employment lands — hinge on revamping the facility.
But Rob Rossini, the city’s general manager of finance, says if the city moves forward with its plan to overhaul the water, wastewater and sewage system, it would mean $922 million worth of debt.
Rossini says the water upgrade plans, which load $1 billion of the $2 billion price tag into the first three years, will be too expensive for the city to handle.
