Essex council to debate letter asking for federal dredging support

Essex Council will talk about the Colchester Harbour Monday at council after the federal government won’t cover part of dredging costs.

The mayor of Essex will ask council Monday night to support sending a letter to Small Craft Harbours, a federal program under the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, requesting that it reconsider funding for annual projects at Colchester Harbour.

Sherry Bondy said the town was previously notified that the federal government will no longer cover a portion of dredging costs for the federally owned harbour.

Dredging is the process of removing accumulated sediment and debris from the bottom of bodies of water.

Bondy said that could cost taxpayers upwards of $40,000.

“I know all governments have cuts, but, when you cut and download to the smallest municipal taxpayers it really hurts. We’re hoping the Department of Fisheries and Oceans will again reconsider helping us with the annual cost of dredging at Colchester Harbour,” she said.

She hoped the federal government would see value in supporting smaller municipalities with dredging costs.

“When any program at the upper level is cut, we see it as taxpayers. It’s just one more thing that residents may not know about, all these extra costs to run facilities and when we lose $20,000 to $40,000, it has a real impact on our tax base,” Bondy said.

Bondy said she never thought this would become an issue.

“We’ve talked in the past about taking the harbour over, but we would need a lot of capital improvements. This is just one thing where we’ve had this great relationship where they’ve provided us assistance and they get a chunk of our proceeds from anything that we bring in. Whether it’s docking or leasing of the building, so I’m hoping it’s a two-way street where they can still help us,” she said.

Essex council meets Monday at 6 p.m.