Steinbach hoping to get $2.5M from province for 3 projects

The City of Steinbach approved three requests for grant funding from the province at the council meeting on October 3rd. 

If granted by the province, the funding will come through the Municipal Economic Development Infrastructure Program (MEDIP), which is a new program that the province announced earlier this year. 

The first of the three applications asks for $1,660,000 from MEDIP for the reconstruction of 525m of asphalt with concrete roadway on Hespeler Street. The project is expected to run from August 2024 to September 2025. 

Councillor Damian Penner says it’s good to get the infrastructure renewed for the economic development of the area. 

“This is good foresight of something to take advantage of the grant program to get this done ahead of time.”  

The second application asks for $560,000 from MEDIP for the reconstruction of 300m asphalt roadway and concrete sidewalk of Hanover Street. The project is expected to run from November 2023 to September 2024. 

Councillor Bill Hiebert says this is a good opportunity. 

“This is very similar to the previous one and this is all about keeping up our infrastructure and renewing, so I think it's a good plan for the city.” 

The final application asks for $300,000 from MEDIP for the replacement of Steinbach Fire Hall’s bay floor, gear washing, and locker room ventilation. The project is expected to run from May 2025 to September 2025. 

Councillor Jake Hiebert says fireman’s safety and health is of utmost importance for the city. 

“The firemen are coming in contact with the carcinogenic issues with diesel fuel, with the other drugs, fentanyl, and from various fires that they attend, so I think it's very important. We need to address the concerns of our Fire Chief and implement this, so I think it's a good thing and I always support the fire department.” 

Councillor Michael Zwaagstra says it would be great to get funding for all three grant applications. 

“I think these are all wise projects for us to apply, and it would be nice if we got all three of these approved, but we'll see what happens.” 

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, SteinbachOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the SteinbachOnline app.