By Brittany Woodcock [1]
BELLEVILLE – Municipalities in the Bay of Quinte riding received $8.5 million through the 2020 Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund [2] last Friday.
The fund helps small, rural and northern communities build and repair roads, bridges and water and wastewater infrastructure.
Belleville received $3.2 million of that funding, while Quinte West received $4.2. Prince Edward County received $1,147,499 and Hastings County received $50,000.
QNet News reached out to Chris Angelo, director of public works for Quinte West, who said that city council hasn’t decided where the funds are going but he assumes it will put the money in the city’s capital reserve and then decide what projects it will go to.
At Belleville city hall, Joseph Reid, general manager of transportation and operation services, referred queries from QNet News to city treasurer Carol Hinze. She declined to provide any details of how the money would be spent, referring QNet to a comment from Mayor Mitch Panciuk in a news release about the funding from Bay of Quinte Conservative MPP Todd Smith. The press release quotes Panciuk as saying Belleville “can proceed with our 2021 infrastructure project planning, knowing this money is now available.”