Town treasurer Ken Wat­son revealed last Tuesday the town’s application to receive $1.3 million through the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative was not successful.

He said more positive news for infrastructure came through the 2008 provincial budget, where Gravenhurst was allocated $633,618 in funding for road and bridge capital projects beyond those that the municipality has already committed to.

Specifics of the grant, including parameters in which the money must be spent, will be available after the formal funding announcement is made, Watson added.

News that the town was not successful four consecutive times for funding to reconstruct James Street from an infrastructure program was disheartening for several town councillors.

“I’m disappointed in the province,” councillor Sandy Cairns said. “I don’t know how it’s decided who gets funding. Is it a scratch-and-win lottery? Why did we miss out again? I don’t understand how we keep falling short. I would like to know who I can talk to because I think we need to get some answers. I’m not saying we’re more deserving but you know . . . four times?”

Mayor John Klinck said he quite frankly believes the bottom line is party politics.

“This is no reflection on the way our application was put together,” he said. “It’s the way the government operates. Under the previous government and administration we did quite well.”

“I feel sorry for our MPP and others who are effectively on an island and aren’t thrown a life-jacket or a boat or any equipment,” he said. “We pay the same taxes as everyone else. We’re ready to go. Our application was as good as anyone else’s, but perhaps it wasn’t our turn.”

Klinck added he believes the funding programs are not sustainable, not appropriate or good for business.

He suggested councillors should start talking to the seasonal residents of Gravenhurst who have sitting provincial members in hopes they will convey the message about the need for funding.

An inquiry to the office of Public Infrastructure Renewal Minister David Caplan revealed the total value in applications for the $600-million funding program exceeded $1 billion.

“We had a lot of good applications, but the decisions were based on how (the projects) will contribute to the quality of life in the community and what benefits they will deliver in terms of jobs and the economy,” said Amy Tang from the minister’s office.

She said applications were successful in non-Liberal ridings, including Muskoka where the Township of Lake of Bays received $1.35 million for its new multi-use community complex, and Town of Bracebridge received $2.8 million for its new baseball field complex.

MPP Norm Miller said the nature of the competitive funding program means there are more losers than winners. In his riding, assuming all 26 municipalities applied, there were five winners and 21 losers, he said.

“If you take the $600 million and divide it into 107 ridings, the average spending for each riding is $5.6 million, but Muskoka received $6,152,713,” said Miller, noting he’s always happy when his riding is successful in receiving funding. “Part of the problem is the competitive process for the funding. . . . A better funding program would be like the gas tax rebate where municipalities know how much they’re getting in advance.”

Miller said he would be happy to speak with staff in the minister’s office to see why Gravenhurst was unsuccessful when there is a valid request.

“We’re still thankful for the $600,000, but it makes it hard for us to plan our capital projects,” said councillor Terry Pilger. “We have to keep lobbying the government, which I think we did a lot of at the Good Roads conference. We have the reports to show our roads and bridges are deteriorating.”