Antigonish Town Council voted to increase the budget for its solar garden project to up to $8 million.

Following a special council meeting on Monday afternoon, Antigonish Mayor Laurie Boucher said staff recognized the project needed another increase in the budget, noting council opted to finish the construction as proposed with a revised budget.

Boucher said the project has been in development for quite a while, noting a number of unfortunate events caused problems for the project. For instance, a major flood required more water and run-off management needed attention, the major snow storm in February damaged some of the solar panels, and the overall increase in costs since 2020.

The original total cost of the project was $5.4 million, with $2.2 million coming from the federal government, and $1.8 million coming from the provincial government, and $1.4 million coming from the town.  With the increase to up to 8 million, the town is prepared to increase its total contribution to up to $4 million.