(Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

Eye on the costs

City gives update on Primary Sanitary Sewer Trunk Upgrade project

May 11, 2021 | 5:44 PM

After a lengthy discussion on the project costs, North Battleford council approved one of the contracts for the city’s large scale Primary Sanitary Sewer Trunk Upgrade project at its meeting Monday night.

As recommended by AECOM Canada Ltd, the project engineer, the city awarded the contract for the construction of the sewage force main and the sewer trunk lining, for contract two of the overall sanitary sewer trunk upgrade project, to Hamm Construction Ltd. for up to $8,928,500 including PST, plus GST. Hamm Construction’s bid was the lowest of three received.

AECOM indicated Hamm Construction met all the contract requirements. In his report to council, city director of operations Stewart Schafer noted the construction for this contract was below estimated costs.

Mayor David Gillan said he appreciated the contract needed to be decided right away to keep the pricing amount as offered in the bid.

“We’ve got a very good price on the piping itself, and that’s a time sensitive contract because of the existing stock,” he said.

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Administration noted the total project construction bid cost for proposals for contracts one and two was above AECOM’s total project construction estimate and the initial project cost.

AECOM is still evaluating contract one for the construction of the sewage pumping station. Administration will bring forward their recommendation to the next council meeting. The bids for this part of the project were close. The lowest bid received is for $5.75 million including PST.

Council heard the sewage pumping station estimated costs for contract one, which is still to be decided, are estimated to be higher than anticipated.

Sean Bayer of KGS Group, the project manager on the sanitary sewer twinning project, gave an outline to council on the project plans and costs for the current total estimate of $16.86 million project, which also includes contingency costs as needed.

The federal and provincial governments are each contributing one-third of funding based on the original estimate of roughly $13.65 million for the project, through the New Building Canada Fund Program.

However, the city is responsible for its share plus any overages from increased costs, as well as the PST cost on construction, which is estimated at an extra $745,000. Initially, the PST cost was not included in the original estimate, as at the time municipalities did not pay PST. The province started charging PST on construction in 2017.

As well, it was noted there were some necessary changes to specifications for the project among the issues in meeting the requirements, while also looking for cost efficiencies.

The new estimated total also reflect increases in cost estimates, as well as contingency costs.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow