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Town of Golden seeks to stretch funding with beautification grant

In an effort to stretch Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) funding for the dike improvement project along the Kicking Horse River, Town of Golden council has decided to apply for BC Hydro grant funding to cover one third of the cost of putting hydro underground along the river.
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Town councillors Connie Barlow and Eddie Leigan look at an artist’s rendering of the Dike Improvement Project from when it was approved in the spring. Keri Sculland/Star Photo

In an effort to stretch Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) funding for the dike improvement project along the Kicking Horse River, Town of Golden council has decided to apply for BC Hydro grant funding to cover one third of the cost of putting hydro underground along the river.

Town council decided to contribute two-thirds of the funding obligtion to BC Hydro under the Municipal Beautification Fund for overhead infrastructure relocation from the UBCM grant. The BC Hydro beautification project coincides with the Bridge to Bridge beautification initiative, and the grant funding would work to stretch the money already provided by UBCM for the upgrades and work.

“It helps the whole project stretch a little further,” said Town of Golden CAO Jon Wilsgard. “Beautification in BC Hydro’s mind means burying the poles. It doesn’t mean flower beds or what we would think of.”

The multi-million dollar Dike Improvement Project was granted to the Town of Golden through UBCM, and already includes a “significant amount of planning and civil work to be done in relocating al shallow utilities underground.”

If granted the funds, BC Hydro would contribute one third of all design costs by them. BC Hydro is involved with this project whether or not the grant funding is approved.

“Their beautification program, if you want underground hydro, etc., then there’s a grant program, where they will contribute a third, which is great because they are involved in this entire project regardless,” Wilsgard said.

Strategically, council looked at this part of the project, which has been a priority since it first applied for the funding in 2012, and would help save on project costs. If council was able to make the one-third cost savings, it could benefit other parts of the project where the funds could be used.

The $5.87-million grant for the Kicking Horse River Dike Improvement Project came from the Federal Gas Tax fund, and is administered by UBCM. The Town of Golden received the news that the funding was approved in March, 2018,and the Town of Golden Mayor Ron Oszust said at that time he hopes construction would be completed by 2020. The first year, 2018, was intended to count as the planning year. There are only certain windows of opportunity to do work on the Kicking Horse River.