The Province has announced that Bracebridge has been approved for up to $2.3 million in funding to repair damaged municipal assets as a result of the devastating flood of 2019. The funding also includes amounts to construct more resilient infrastructure to better withstand future flooding events.
In response to significant flooding within the Town of Bracebridge, a State of Emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act was declared for the Town of Bracebridge by Mayor Graydon Smith on April 23, 2019. Over 1,000 properties were impacted by the flooding.
In the wake of the 2019 flood event, the Town requested that the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing activate the Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance program to unlock an important funding mechanism to assist with the cost of recovery.
At that same time, the Minister announced, in Bracebridge, that the Province would be providing additional consideration to support the efforts of municipalities to ‘build back better’ through a new climate resilience incentive. This pilot incentive program is designed to support initiatives that resulted in rebuilding damaged infrastructure with a more robust design and construction to better withstand the more frequent and severe environmental events.
Over the following months, Town staff had all of the flood damage assessed, identified assets that would benefit from a more resilient design and construction to mitigate future impacts, and provided thorough claims submissions to the Province for consideration – and the Province responded in a big way.
“The Town of Bracebridge is pleased to receive these funds from the Provincial government in the wake of unprecedented flooding in 2019,” said Mayor Graydon Smith. “This money will allow us to repair and improve our local infrastructure and be better prepared should flooding occur in the future. Thank you to Premier Ford, Minister Clark and our MPP Norm Miller for their ongoing assistance.”
Some of the rehabilitation and construction efforts have already been completed, while others are currently underway. Approved enhancement projects have been scheduled for completion over the next two years.
