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' If ( )ntuno was your house. it uuuld by on the the of falling apart. "to roof ’ nwds rmht‘nglmg. the dermal! systwn is ailing and thvfurmuv is on its Inst 1 legs. R)th about tlu' fact the bathroom g Hasn't been mime s‘ the 19705. You'w taken loans “Em? maxing out credit cards to pay [or just part of what weds to be done/1 Mermland Special Report shows wars the situation for Ontario municipalia'a as thty 5014319 to fix our crumbling tnfrustrucmm -â€" the roads. building. Wand Wt systems that underpin our daily are. 2 I e 3 ,8 tough": .Sun‘ ’1 nbunt I m. \ Communities struggle to meet infrastructure needs returning fmm a camping trip with lanimonanAugustda’yinZOOSmot humming the rainstorm through which théy'd been dflving had flooded roads throughout southem York Region. "We have a house that's well‘maimained to have water 30 twufeet deep on our lawn because it can‘t drain away. I don't think then-“s a way'to defend against that.‘ he saya The inwards were relatively lucky. with their insurance company covering the expenses of replacing carpeting. clcclmn ics. a furnace. [recur and other possessions irreparany damaged by the sewage backup. Mom than fiw years Ian-r. lm mlunun ham yr! hem impk’mrmed [or «mlaccnwnt U! the inadequate pipes nmning below thv mfifimbtmrhmxi. ‘ A '61de fnund vvvrything {rum poor drainage in downqmuls mime-fling tn the Wt qystt-m contributed In the «M-flnad and the 1km of Markham mncluded ll will take “0 million to bring the. system up m date. While residents. wait. huplng another But the stranded cars and high water lines they could see as they pulled up to their house soon made it clean that neighbour hood was hit unusually hard. r The llowmd home was one of hundreds flooded by the flash storm as aging storm sewers became wedmuled. Mr. Hth soon found the wrought by the six inches of water that flooded his basenwnt. Mr. “mm-d tries to be opflmistic my days but admits he has second thoughts when lhv skies mm m and min clouds ml] in. Though watet had men sew-ml inches up * his abovefiwund basenwnt windows. the man that caused the damage had come bubbling up through his basement drain. "Wc'm not many worried." he says; "On the other hand. it's always in [hr hark uf ynur mind. Ynu just never know." METROLAND SPECIAL REPORT: ‘... to have water go two-fir! deep on our lawn because it can't drain away. I don't think there's a way to Maui against that.’ IV DAVID PUNCH" AND NICOLE “mm Special report Ian Rowan! brew theme was Some- flung wrong even before he got b What's aumbhq in yomneid‘bouhood? Let us knowwhalyouflfinkneedsvgodwithakflutom editonolim-Masonat It's a “thomy ismo". Mr‘ lkvwand says. 1119 situation in ’l'hnmhill shows how widespread and expensive is the need. despite rutvm gwrmmcm stimulus pmgmm funding. Mums 1hr n-pp'on. mom than $235 mil- lion worth ‘of infrastnnum pmjerts -- from community centre n-fits to mad msurfacings â€"â€"â€" unwed forward in the lam two years. But the region expects to spend mom than SI billion this year alone on such pm} mix ~--~ mom than $8 billion over the coming decade â€"-~â€" and as welcome as the onetime funding it was, it wasn't a solution to a petsis~ tent problem. It's a problem wmmun to most Ontario communities today. storm isn't coming. town ntficials are trying to figure op! how they can pay for the needed infrastructure. Sinkhoks are becoming more common. opening huge gaps in roads when broken undu'gmund pipes collapse or the surface gives out. Minuan Iranian-23. “brunetâ€"lanolin“qu CONCRETE PROBLEMS A “(WOUND “EMA SPICIM IUD" How ton: By the pmvince's own estimates. them is memes SWb‘m ReNew Chtmro fund (reared mms,wassuppasedtorunbrfivembutthe nlmeymmedeyZMJIoddngamfyme itmtismbewmemlmumm wmmmmzoazmmmmm mmsmmwmmmm b tSpercemlaboutS‘tbiionlwenttohospnals andheatthfacilities. 'b 22 per cent mtoeduation propctsyedomiâ€" nantlytlieWmGoodPhcestoLeamprogramh included $2.25billiontorepoircrwnblinqschools. D 40 per cent went to transit and transportation projects'mdudhg $700 milion for extension of the Spain: subwq from ioronto into Vatighbn, one of the largest amounts. Fonds also went to GO Transit. warding the border crossing at Queenston-Lew- iston and inpmv'nq Harnllton’s express bus server Another largeâ€"scale component was the $3.4 billion southern Ontario highways program. > The 23 per cent is not Itemized in detail .. but hdudesabout $1.4 biion for water and environ mm MS. 3784 milion ior iusticeJust more than $3 hillon for local/mmidpal infrastructure and hearty 52.7 billion merely classified as‘btherT b lSpettHN(abom$4biion)w¢-mmhospnals andMaRMadlities. 'v 22 per cent Mmedumion propctsyedomiâ€" nanflyflreSkbilionGoodPhcestoLeampmgnm." "mdudui $2.25billiontoupoircrwnbingschools. $100 billion worth of unwpaimd or unhuilt infrastmcmm in Ontario. with no funds available to fix or build it. That infrastmcturc gap can be soon mom Clearly every day in madway sinkholcs. flooded 310ml sysu'n‘m and deteriorau'ng public buildings: Ontario communities are struggling without success to meet their infrastmc- tut? needs. despite several yean of stimulus funding. While the $3.4-billkm infrastnictum program created jabs and helped kick-start the «tummy. even Ontario Infrastructure Minister Bob (Zhiarelli concedes the stimulus pmgmms made only a "dent". "I think It will be a long time before it will be easy. but wllecuvcly. we. need to do it smanct." Mt. Chum!“ achumluigcd. A Metroland Special Report shbws Omar» io wm‘munities increasinwy mhormwing and going into debt some for the first time BY THE NUMBERS m decades to deal with a worsening situa‘ (ion. [on -tcrm needs are nvrrwhc-lming. Metro and surveyed 20 l"!!hi(‘iphllt's for data on (wryth'mg fmm the amount of money harm-d fmm (Mama and Queen's Park to longtcrm infmsmn'nm‘ needs. (Rev than on next page) 0 More than half. including Milton and York Region. have intrndured a tax or lvw specifically to help pay fm infrasmn‘mn- pmiects; 1 0 Mom than half meame their apt-Hui capital'msts over the next du adc in billions of dollars. including Vbrk all 38 billion [W 2020: ' , ° Three-quanurs report they are cum'mh shon at least $160 million fur future mfm "4070 IV IAN WILLMYTHC YOIONYO SVAI \N YORK. {A “f4