GREENSTONE — Turning the taps on in Longlac is set to be a smoother process thanks to plans set in motion by the municipality of Greenstone.
As part of the operating and capital budget approved in principle at Greenstone’s municipal council meeting on Dec. 11, planned upgrades to the Longlac water treatment facility and two separate water towers in the municipality are finally on the way.
Mayor Jamie McPherson said the funding for improvements to Longlac’s water treatment plant mostly comes from the federal government and that this is something that has been a longtime coming.
“It’s a brand new filter, the original filter was [installed] in approximately 1980 and is 45 years old,” McPherson said.
“It has worked well [but] it is failing, it is rusting and it needs to be replaced. Fortunately, we were able to receive some significant funding from the federal government to help us get that done this year.”
The funding for the project was initially announced back in 2022, with the federal government pitching in around $1 million for new filters, the installation of a backwash system, and other improvements as needed.
According to Infrastructure Canada, the provincial government and the municipality of Greenstone also contributed towards the project for a combined total of just over $2.4 million.
“It’s taken a couple years to work through that project,” McPherson said.
He also said the Longlac project is probably the “single biggest item” in terms of infrastructural improvements to be addressed this year, in terms of cost.
Additionally, the municipality is set to spend $1.2 million to paint two water towers.
“Greenstone has many of everything. We have two water towers that need to get painted and when you go to paint a water tower – think how high it is – and you’ve got to enclose it so the dust doesn’t land on the houses underneath,” McPherson said.
With more infrastructural upgrades on the way and the municipality on track budget-wise, the improvements in Longlac are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what officials hope to see in the future.
