Since Kimberley City Council reversed their decision on the Mark Creek flume rehab in June, there has been work behind the scenes yet nothing visible to the public aside from equipment mustering on Deer Park Avenue.
However, that will all change very soon says City CAO Scott Sommerville.
He says the general contractor Copcan will begin pulling asphalt this week.
“I understand that Copcan is waiting for their site supervisor with experience from Phase I to finish up another project,” Sommerville said.
The first project will be placing sewer mains, followed by excavation and the placement of the temporary diversion by BJ’s restaurant.
No workers are actually allowed to be in the creek until July 15 under the Section 9 fisheries permit, Sommerville said.
After initial tenders were rejected by Council on May 19 for being in excess of available project funding, Copcan approached the City and negotiated a reduced price for the work. On June 4, Council accepted a revised price of $2,882,560 from Copcan, a $328,537 reduction from their original tender price, and decided to go ahead with the flume project this year. The City has also contracted Aqua-Tex Scientific Consulting Ltd. $190,748.60 for engineering services related to the project.
The planned expenditure for the remainder of the project is $3,374,050. In May of 2014, the City secured $2,068,582 in provincial and federal funding through the Flood Protection Program to complete the project, matching the City’s one-third contribution of $1,034,291.