After plenty of delays the long awaited construction on the new Nanton sewage treatment plant is getting underway.

Mayor Rick Everett says they finally gave the $11.8 million project the green light at Monday night's council meeting.

He says to keep costs in line, they had to make one minor change, and that was the length of time it would take to get the plant up and running.

"One of the ways we could cut costs was to extend the contract by three months, which saves about $150,000. We're ok to extend the contract now to March of 2017. We hopefully get in the ground and start work in April. About three months of 'dirt work' going on before we actually start to see construction of some other kind going on."

A day after Nanton Town Council voted to move ahead with construction of their long awaited wastewater plant workers were on site starting the process of the year long construction. Photo - Russell Skeet.

Everett says they got $9.2 million dollars in funding from the Federal and Provincial governments.

He says they'll take the rest from MSI (Municipal Sustainability Initiative) funding, some savings, and forgo improvements to Town Hall all to pay for the plant.

He says they may still have to borrow between $100,000 and $500,000 dollars, but that's a far cry from the $5 million they could have borrowed through a Town bylaw incase money from other levels of government fell through or came up short.

He says the existing plant is past its last legs and they need to get the new wastewater treatment plant up and running as soon as possible.