It’s going to be a busy few days for the delegation from Prince Edward County at next week’s Association of Municipalities Ontario Conference in Ottawa.
Mayor Steve Ferguson says they’ve got several meetings lined up, including one with Minister of Health Sylvia Jones where they’ll talk about the new hospital and the local financial contribution to it.
There has been more than $21 million raised locally for a new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital.
“So I’m also going to encourage with her that our aging population and the need to retain our emergency department at the current hospital.”
He says they’ll all talk about how the municipality is addressing its doctor shortage.
In addition, they’ll meet with Minister of Infrastructure Kinga Surma where they will have a discussion about adding a roundabout at the intersection of Highway 62 and County Road 1 to improve safety.
County Road 49 also remains a priority.
“And its condition is fully understood by the ministry. The challenge, of course, is how do we tackle paying the approximately $30 million to rebuild it? We have certainly made headway over this term, and the steps we’ve taken to put ourselves into a shovel-ready position, and we’re going to keep pushing this item forward with the minister.”
There will also be a meeting with representatives from the Finance Ministry on finance and taxation issues.
“And this specifically relates to the up front financing agreements we have developed to support the very substantial infrastructure investments underway in Wellington. So, this kind of up front financing is, generally, occurs more in big cities. And we’re, I believe, the first rural municipality to have done this.”
