Infrastructure creating development space: projects free up 30 plus acres of prime land.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: TIMMINS

Nearly $20 million in infrastructure projects are scheduled or underway in the City of Timmins. "Timmins has been pretty sheltered economically thanks to gold, and we have to make sure that we can keep meeting the needs of people who want to build here," says Mark Jensen, the city's director of development services.

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"There are some challenges throughout the city on that, and we're trying to meet those challenges as best we can."

One such challenge has long been seen in the city's west end, where maximized capacity resulted in a moratorium on further development. With the installation of $4.8 million in additional sewage lines, however, up to 30 acres of space for new development will be freed up, in a general area west of McBride Street, behind the Porcupine Mall.

The move will allow future development along available stretches of land on Riverside Drive, a location highly popular with retail firms due to its proximity to malls and the entrance to the city.

Roughly $3 million is also being spent on a new pumping station on the corner of Moneta Avenue and Vipond Road. This will increase waterflow and pressure through to the communities of Schumacher, Porcupine and South Porcupine in anticipation of further growth.

Other projects include nearly $1 million to extend a waterline through to the Winding Woods subdivision, behind the Timmins and District Hospital on Michelano Drive and Texas Gulf Road. This work is already largely complete, with water testing and approvals pending from the province.

Growing developer interest in the north end of the city is encouraging similar examination of water and sewer capacity in the area, with investigation into the matter due to begin in the coming months.

Roadwork will require $8 million through 2009, while stimulus funding and other infrastructure-focused initiatives have also allowed the city to pursue the $5.6-million replacement of the Barber's Bay bridge.

These and other city-led capital projects would have eventually happened over time, but the availability of funding from provincial and federal levels of government represent a "convergence of opportunity," says Fred Gibbons, vice-president of the Timmins Chamber of Commerce.

Still, he cautions the chamber will continue to carefully monitor the city's spending to ensure construction money is being used on items representing long-term sustainability rather than low-priority, high-maintenance projects.

Having once served as a...