Stimulus projects lauded

By J.T. MCVEIGH, BARRIE EXAMINER Feb 25 2011

ORO-MEDONTE TWP. — Two voices in an 80-strong choir sang the praises of the federal government’s Economic Action Plan.

Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton and Barrie MP Patrick Brown met at the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport in Oro-Medonte Township with partners from provincial and municipal governments on Thursday to celebrate the impact of the infrastructure money on improving the fortunes of facilities like the airport.

“This (the airport) is the perfect example of why this program is so successful,” said Stanton. “Extending the runway and the other improvements not only created jobs, but it also makes the facility more valuable to local businesses. There is already a new tenant, Presidential Air, an air charter company, and we expect more.”

The announcement was one of a series of more than 80 Economic Action Plan site events happening nationwide.

Locally, the Airport Improvement Project, when completed, will expand the runway to 6,000 feet, enlarge the air terminal building and parking lot and further develop the taxiway, apron and commercial lot. The airport will upgrade the sanitary sewer and water system, as well as increase security and install wildlife control fencing. The access road and airfield pavement have been repaved and a new maintenance facility has been constructed.

“Barrie has profited,” said Brown. “I know it seemed frustrating that, wherever you drove in Barrie, there seemed to be construction, but that is a healthy sign (that), wherever you go in Barrie, you can see signs of the stimulus plan.”

Brown cited the reconstruction of Anne Street, the new fire hall, Georgian College, among other projects.

Since 2007, he said there have been more than 2000 stimulus projects in the province involving more than $4 billion.

“This is a partnership at work between Oro-Medonte and the City of Barrie,” said Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman of the airport expansion. “The purpose of this stimulus money isn’t just for transportation, but to stimulate economic development in the area.”

For Oro-Medonte Mayor Harry Hughes, the stimulus money that funded the expansion was the right tonic for a long sleeping dream.

“For a long time, this airport was just a field of dreams,” he said. “Finally, those dreams are really becoming a reality.”

For Hughes, the airport is not just a transportation hub, but he sees it as the core of onomic expansion for the county and the city of Barrie.

“We see this as the most important stimulus project,” he said. “But we see that it connects every other infrastructure program that took place in the region.”

Although the program is all but finished, the completion deadline for projects has been extended until Oct. 31, 201