Mayor Paula Assaly confirmed that the town has received final approval of its application for $824,400 under the Ontario Connecting Links program. The money will help with costs for the planned McGill Street improvement project in the downtown area.

“This will be a real help,” Mayor Assaly said during a phone interview August 14.

The main focus of the McGill Street project is to redo the retaining wall along the street where it follows Mill Creek up to the Main Street intersection. The retaining wall is starting to sag and show other signs of wear.

The town has also received notice that it is eligible for a $40,000 grant from the provincial citizenship and immigration ministry to set up a new LED community announcements panel at the intersection of Higginson Street and Cartier Boulevard.

One last grant application the town is still waiting on for an answer concerns its $4.4 million application under the Infrastructure Canada program for upgrades to the Hawkesbury municipal water treatment plant.

“I would hope that we will hear about that before the end of 2020,” said Mayor Assaly.