By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The town of East Bolton has received a grant of nearly $1.7 million from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to fund the building of a new municipal garage. Orford MNA Gilles Bélanger made the announcement on behalf of Municipal Affairs Minister Andrée Laforest on May 23.

The wooden garage will have a surface area of approximately 345 square metres. It will eventually house an archives room, an office, storage rooms, and utility rooms, in addition to a storage space on the mezzanine; there will also be outdoor parking.

The municipality qualified for the grant through the Programme d’amélioration et de construction d’infrastructures municipales (PRACIM), receiving a top-up worth eight per cent of the grant due to the use of wood in the structure, and an additional top-up reserved for towns with a population of less than 2,000. The grant will cover 78 per cent of the expected cost of the project and construction is expected to continue through the fall.

“Thank you to East Bolton for this project, which is another step toward ensuring the sustainability of municipal services offered to residents, and thank you to the people of the municipality for their commitment to their community,” Laforest said in a statement.

“The arrival of this modern garage will allow the municipality to consolidate several of its services in a single location. I am pleased to see that this new infrastructure will help improve the efficiency of East Bolton’s operations,” Bélanger added.

East Bolton mayor Vinciane Peeters said she was “delighted to see this project take shape.”

“This new municipal garage will be a valuable asset to our community, providing essential services and strengthening our ability to respond to emergency situations. Furthermore, the use of wood will blend perfectly with our environment, thus respecting our commitment to sustainability,” she said in a statement. Peeters was not available for a follow-up interview before press time.