The federal government has committed $10.1 million dollars to cover nearly half the cost of two major projects in Memramcook, to be constructed in the coming years.
Current Beauséjour candidate, and then MP Dominic LeBlanc made the funding announcement with Memramcook mayor Maxime Bourgeois on March 21, just days before the writ was issued to kick off the 2025 federal election.
The projects include an estimated $8.2 million water services extension and an estimated $13.5 million recreation centre in Memramcook.
CHMA called up Mayor Bourgeois to hear more about the projects, and started off asking about the plan to extend water services in the village of Memramcook.
The water services extension is the fourth phase of a project started years ago, says Bourgeois, and will complete a loop including rue Centrale, route La Vallée, Petit Dover, and rue La Montain.
“We’re very excited,” says Bourgeois, noting that residents in the area have long had issues with water supply. “There was actually a petition signed by most of the residents of that road asking for the water [service]. They already have sewer, so they will have both municipal services,” says Bourgeois. The extension of service will increase property values and could also stimulate construction on vacant lots in the area, he says.
The federal government will contribute $4.1 million, and Bourgeois says the municipality is waiting on approval for about $3 million in provincial funding. The municipality’s water utility budget will cover the remaining $1.1 million of the $8.2 million project. If all funding falls into place, the project could begin construction this year.
The other major project that has received the federal stamp of approval is a recreation centre to be built next to the community-owned Memramcook Valley Golf Course. The feds have committed $6 million to the estimated $13.5 million project. Bourgeois says the municipality has applied for a provincial contribution, and will also undertake a campaign to raise the municipal contribution.
The new recreation centre will include a multipurpose room that can accommodate 325 people, and also storage so that the village can start offering equipment rentals. “We’re going to try to start renting snow shoes, maybe cross country skis, possibly e-bikes down the road,” says Bourgeois. There would also be pickleball and tennis rackets available during the summer season. “We really want to create a four season sort of attraction to encourage people to do outside activities,” says Bourgeois.
Bourgeois says the centre will complement and encourage use of the nearby LeBlanc Park, which may soon be growing. “We are in the process of acquiring, I think it’s 62 acres, to extend our municipal park,” says Bourgeois. “So that’s going to open a lot of opportunities as well.”
Bourgeois says the recreation centre project is not to be confused with a community centre that’s being proposed on the grounds of the Abbey Landry school. That centre is in the early planning stages, and would involve collaboration with the Francophone Southeast school district. The community centre plan includes the combining of Memramcook’s public library with the school library into one facility. Bourgeois presented about both ideas at a public meeting in February.
Bourgeois says the only connection between the funding announcements and the federal election is that applications may have been expedited in advance of the election call. “Approval can take quite a lot of time,” says Bourgeois. LeBlanc’s constituency office “did everything they could to get that before the election was launched,” says Bourgeois. “They did everything possible so we could secure the funds before the election, because nobody knows what’s going to happen after the election, obviously.”
