At City Council on Monday evening, Council gave the first three readings to a bylaw to allow the City to borrow up to $4.25 million to replace the concrete flood flume that runs through the downtown section of Mark Creek.

The flume is failing and currently shored up in places with beams. Previous Council had already begun lobbying the provincial government for funds for the project.

The plan is to not only replace the aging flume, but give the whole downtown section of the creek a more natural look. No more cement walls, in other words.

All Council has done so far is set the process in motion. Borrowing of an amount this large must be approved by voters, and so it will be put out through the Alternative Approval Process, in which 10 percent of eligible voters must register opposition within 30 days.

"This will allow us to continue to move forward on the first phase of the project," McRae said.

It will also allow the City to continue to apply for grants which they hope will cover at least two thirds of the costs with a federal, provincial, municipal share.

But grants or not, this must go ahead, McRae says. "We have to do this project."