The City of Sault Ste. Marie has established a four-part plan to develop a public-access port in its harbour.
The results of a KPMG report gauging user interest in the port were released in February, and the response by stakeholders was positive, said Trevor Woods, the chair of the city’s transportation infrastructure committee.
“All of the users are very interested in moving forward, so that’s basically the stage we’re at now,” Woods said. “We’re now starting to discuss and draft implementation plans and next steps and the types of things that we need to accomplish over the next few months to really launch the project.”
Part one of the plan involves setup and will define details surrounding a project plan, a funding strategy, and what kinds of resources will be needed. Drafts of those outlines are being discussed right now.
In the second phase, the committee will focus on pre-engineering, including environmental assessments and consultations, and the third phase would involve engineering and design.
Phase four of the plan would be the actual implementation phase in which operating agreements would be established and the port would be operational.
Funding hasn’t yet been established, but preliminary discussions with FedNor and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. to secure capital for phases one and two of the project have started, Woods said.
“For the design and build phase, we’ve earmarked potential funding sources, but we haven’t applied, or we haven’t gone in any detailed discussions with those folks yet,” he said. “We’re very much in the ‘let’s get organized’ phase.”
Woods said the committee anticipates having the project management team up and running by July or August, and simultaneously having applications in to the funding agencies for early-stage funding.
This project is a high priority for the city, he emphasized, and it’s supported by both council and senior management.
“This is really seen as an economic benefit for the community,” Woods said. “To improve the port really improves the competitive nature of the regional industry in the area, and it really lays a good groundwork for growth within that industry, so that’s why the city is quite interested in this.”
