The Municipality of Pontiac has received $210,000 from MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais to finance some much needed maintenance it has planned for its Luskville and Quyon parks this summer.
The money was awarded at the MRC’s most recent council meeting on May 21. It is part of the province’s FRR stream 3 of funding made available for MRCs to disperse for projects that promote regional development.
“Each municipality will have $210,000 for one major project,” MRC des Collines warden Marc Carrière said, explaining how the provincial funding is distributed through his MRC.
“The main goal is [to improve] the quality of life of the citizens, so we were quite happy when Pontiac submitted this project [for the funding].”
Pontiac mayor Roger Larose said while the municipality was originally hoping for $250,000, the funding will still make it possible for the municipality to roll out the first phase of upgrades to some key infrastructure in both parks.
In Luskville, the municipality will use it to install a dog park, so dogs are no longer roaming free across the ball field, which Larose said was causing problems; to move the existing pétanque courts to where the ice rink currently stands; and hopefully to move the ice rink’s location to the yard next to the Paroisse Saint-Dominique in the village of Luskville, where it will be more accessible to the kids who attend the elementary school across the street.
“If everything goes good it should be moved. We’re not quite done the deal yet but so far it’s looking good,” Larose said.
Luskville park upgrades will also include insulating the current service building so the washrooms can be used year-round.
In Quyon, planned upgrades include installing a net around the ballfield and a shelter for players not on the pitch, as well as sprucing up the washrooms to tie them over until the municipality can find money for more substantial upgrades.
“I don’t want to waste a pile of money on buildings we’re not sure if we’re going to keep or not, but at the same time we need to have decent washrooms,” Larose said.
“It’s just to make sure everything is working good for now, and from there we’re going to go get more money next year.”
He said four summer students will start working for the municipality and will be spending a big portion of their time working on the parks.
Waiting on government grant
As for phases two and three of upgrades to both parks, the plans for which were first presented to the public at consultations hosted by the municipality this spring, Larose said there are minor delays.
“We were going to apply for the [provincial] grant, but the government didn’t renew the grant right away, so we’ve got to wait until they come back with the grant,” he said, regarding the news that the government would not be investing in the Plan québécois des infrastructures (PQI) that funds projects like the Municipality of Pontiac’s until 2026.
The municipality has committed to borrowing $300,000 by way of a borrowing bylaw to be able to apply for the grant, once it becomes available.
In the meantime, the municipality is taking a little more time to finalize plans for phases two and three of the park upgrades.
“We still have some changes to make, we didn’t really finalize nothing yet. Even last week we were talking to people who came up with new [ideas],” he said.
“But that’s not a big change there, it won’t take long.”
