Bancroft awarded over $2 million for water infrastructure project

By Bill Kilpatrick

On Jan. 28 MPP for Hastings—Lennox and Addington Ric Bresee announced that the Town of Bancroft was receiving $2,226,500 in provincial funding to repair the water level control dam on the York River. The funds, according to a press release from Bresee's office, are coming from the municipal housing infrastructure program's health and safety water stream.

Bresee was thankful for the support from the province, given the many fiscal struggles that small rural municipalities currently face. In his press release Bresee stated that he was “happy to see such a great level of support for our small, rural, and northern communities from Premier Ford and the Ministry of Infrastructure. We all recognize the fiscal challenges that these water infrastructure responsibilities place on small municipalities, and I am grateful to the province for supporting the residents of the Bancroft region with this funding.”

Bancroft Mayor Paul Jenkins highlighted the importance of such an investment for not only the Town of Bancroft, but for all residents who access the York River. He stated in a press release that “This dam is a vital piece of municipal infrastructure, helping to maintain consistent river levels that support residential use, recreation, and the overall enjoyment of the York River in our municipality and throughout the region.” He went on to highlight its importance given the more severe precipitation events and storms that are becoming increasingly common along with spring run-off. He pointed out that the dam also “plays a critical role in flood management by safely directing excess spring runoff through the river system in a controlled manner protecting residences along the banks of the river in Bancroft and further down stream.”

Further to these important points, Jenkins highlighted that the investment from the province “strengthens the long-term resilience of our community and allows Bancroft to continue improving essential infrastructure while reducing financial pressures on taxpayers.” The investment by the province, however, does not mean that there will be no financial pressures on taxpayers as the Town of Bancroft will still have to come up with just over $800,000 to pay for their portion of the project.

In a follow up phone interview Jenkins explained that the Town of Bancroft has multiple infrastructure projects on the go from the water tower rehabilitation, the connecting link project, the new library, and vital upgrades to the North Hastings Community Centre. Projects that, while they have received substantial funding from the province, will still require approximately $3 million in investments from the Town of Bancroft. However, as Jenkins argued, the Town of Bancroft is currently in a good position to deal with the expenses from these major projects. “We're in a good position with reserves,” Jenkins told Bancroft This Week. “We've built up our reserves and pretty much eliminated all the non water and sewer debt.” He went on to point out that the money required for the community centre upgrade was already set aside in a reserve fund and that the water tower rehabilitation costs, which will cost approximately $5 million of which the town will have to pay just over $1.3 million, is already factored into the water and sewer rates. He also mentioned that the half million that the town is required to put forward for the library will hopefully be offset through a fundraising campaign.

The current budget, said Jenkins, has allocated some $700,000 into reserve funds for 2026 and he hopes that if allocations such as that can continue it will result in the town not having to finance for major infrastructure projects. But, he also pointed out that with the virtual elimination of the non water and sewer debt the town would be in a place where they could borrow money for infrastructure projects if they had no other choice. He pointed out that unlike many other municipalities in Hastings County who are looking at high single digit or even double-digit tax increases, the Town of Bancroft's tax hike will be between one and two percent, signalling their positive fiscal position.

Jenkins expressed his and council's “sincere appreciation” for the province's investment in the dam project and all the other recent projects as well. He appeared optimistic that the Town will continue to thrive despite the many capital and infrastructure challenges that they face. “There's lots of things going on now and lots of these to come down the pipeline,” he stated. “Timing is a big thing.”