The Honourable Vic Toews (left) and Honourable Ron Lemieux (right) along with Steinbach Mayor Chris Goertzen (centre), participate in the sod-turning ceremony for the Steinbach Lagoon Expansion project.
A sod-turning ceremony took place today to mark the start of Steinbach’s Lagoon Expansion project – the largest capital works project ever to take place in Steinbach.
The Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, and the Honourable Ron Lemieux, Minister of Local Government, joined Mayor Chris Goertzen to mark the commencement of this large-scale project and celebrate the joint $10.5 million federal – provincial – local investment making the project a reality.
“The sewage lagoon expansion will not only improve the quality of life for all residents but also provide additional long-term growth opportunities for the region and encourage many new businesses to be established in the community,” said Minister Toews, on behalf of the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification.
“Clean water is a vital quality of life issue for many Manitobans,” said Minister Lemieux. “And the Manitoba government’s green focus on infrastructure investments continues to improve our environment for future generations of Manitobans.
“The project, once complete, will serve our present and future citizens for many years,” said City of Steinbach Mayor, Chris Goertzen. “The goal of council was to equip our city with infrastructure for the long term and, with the welcomed help of the two other levels of government, we have been able to achieve this vision.”
The existing lagoon went into service in 1992 with an estimated lifespan of 20 years. The scope of the project includes constructing three effluent storage cells with a combined size of approximately 1.0 million square metres, and adding a primary wastewater treatment cell of approximately 30,000 square metres.
The annual maintenance costs associated with the proposed expansion will be funded through the City’s annual utility operating budget. User fees charged to customers connected to the utility will continue to fund the operating costs of the facility.
The project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2010, and is made possible through $7.0 million in funding ($3.5 million each) from the Government of Canada and the Province of Manitoba under the Building Canada Fund – Communities Component.
