(File photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Infrastructure works

City approves concrete crushing contract

Jun 15, 2022 | 5:45 PM

The City of North Battleford has given the okay to award the contract for the crushing of concrete stored at the city’s Waste Management Facility (WMF).

Council approved the proposal received from BCE Earthworks Ltd., the lowest of three bids received, for $365,700 including PST for the crushing of up to 30,000 metric tonnes of concrete, as recommended by administration. BCE Earthworks’ contract had the best score from the proposals received.

The city will use the 2022 budgeted funds for the project, with the rest of the cost to be covered from the city’s capital reserves fund. The city’s WMF will make annual payments of $99,400, including six per cent interest, each year for three years, for a total repayment of up to $298,202, to repay the capital reserves used for the contract.

According to city’s Environmental Manager, Jeff Blanchard’s report, the current crushed concrete inventory is running low and not adequate to meet all the city’s needs. So the city has to increase its supply. Currently the WMF crushes concrete on a two-year cycle to provide the product for city projects. As well, additional product is sold to the public and contractors for $25 per tonne.

Blanchard noted by delaying the purchase it will increase the cost for the material. As well, the UPAR [the Underground Pipeline and Asphalt Replacement program] projects would need to find the proper material from other providers, risking increased costs and potentially hampering the scope of the projects.

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Blanchard said in the absence of crushed concrete the city would need to source the material outside to third party contractors at various rates.

By accepting the contract proposed for 30,000 metric tonnes of crushed concrete, Blanchard said the city will be getting a good rate at $11.50 per tonne, which will provide it with between four to six years of inventory for current and future use.

“This will just ensure we have a stable, steady supply of crushed concrete to use as a sub-base on all city projects, primarily UPAR, but also for use on water main breaks and repairs,…” he said.

City manager Randy Patrick said the city will require a high amount of crushed concrete for projects this year.

“We looked at this as a pretty good price on this,” he said. “It’s not an expense per se, because it’s the cost for inventory. It is expensed over time, so you won’t see it coming through this year as an expense to the city.”

Patrick added there is a lot of concrete sitting at the WMF, so it would be good to get that crushed. He added the city would be able to sell the crushed concrete too as a profit.

He also noted that the city also has more projects for further UPAR work in future years.

“We don’t see it getting smaller on a yearly basis,” Patrick said. “There are a lot of projects for UPAR that will go well past 10 years.”

Coun. Kelli Hawtin questioned whether it might more financially prudent for the city to choose a contract for 20,000 metric tonnes of crushed concrete, compared to repaying for the 30,000 metric tonnes over three years.

“Are we going to end up having issues in our Waste Management Facility operating budget because we are asking too much from it over the three years, versus looking at a little bit less concrete repayment over three years,” she said.

City Finance director Brent Nadon said it should not affect operations at the WMF by going with the contract for 30,000 metric tonnes.

“The interest we are charging is going to be the same rate either way,” he said. “The reason they are having a bigger pile is that when it comes to crushing concrete there is a significant cost for them [the company] moving in here and setting up… So when they come in and crush that for a multi-year inventory, in the long run that will save us substantially more money, and it won’t impact the ongoing rates at the Waste Management Facility if we take a little bit longer to pay that money back ourselves.”

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW