Provincial Infrastructure Grant Staff Report

PROVINCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Town of View Royal apply for a Provincial Infrastructure Planning Program Grant to help fund a Drainage Master Plan Update in 2023.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to inform Council of available grants that could be applied for to update the Town’s Drainage Master Plan, should Council approve this noncore project for 2023.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The Province of British Columbia’s Provincial Infrastructure Planning Program Grant has an application deadline of January 18, 2023. Staff anticipate including a Drainage Master Plan Update into the 2023 Budget for Council Review. As this project is consistent with the grant requirements, staff recommend Council consider applying for this grant for the Drainage Master Plan, which would be subject to Council review in spring 2023.

BACKGROUND:

The Provincial Infrastructure Planning Program Grant is made available to municipalities to develop or improve long term comprehensive plans, with a lens of maintaining sustainable community infrastructure. This includes but is not limited to:

• Asset management plans
• Integrated stormwater management plans
• Water master plans
• Liquid waste management plans

Grants can be used for a range of activities related to assessing the technical, environmental and/or economic feasibility of local government infrastructure projects.

DISCUSSION:

Staff will be presenting a project to Council for consideration in 2023 that proposes an update to the 2017 Drainage Master Plan. The update would incorporate climate change and natural infrastructure to the technical analysis. This is consistent with the values and goals of an integrated stormwater master plan.

Infrastructure master plans are generally updated at regular intervals or if changes to overall land use in municipalities is enacted. As the existing drainage master plan is approaching 5 years old, and the anticipated Official Community Plan will be updated in 2023, staff will be recommending updating this master plan in 2023/2024. This project will be subject to Council review as part of the 2023-2027 financial planning process, and additional information will be provided in the project summary at that time.

It is expected that the Council’s review of this project budget would occur after the grant application deadline, staff recommend applying for the grant now to secure the funding for this potential project.

SUSTAINABILITY/CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS:

The drainage master plan update will incorporate climate change issues into the document and will provide solutions to reduce the impact of climate change.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

If successful, the grant will provide up to $10,000 in funding for the comprehensive plan. The typical cost of a drainage master plan update (with a lens of climate change) can be around $100,000 (+/- 20%).

ALTERNATIVES:

While staff consider the drainage update to be a priority compared to other Town-owned infrastructure relevant to this grant, Council may suggest this funding to be used for different infrastructure. Additional staff review would be time dependant given the Jan. 18, 2023, application deadline.