This week city council awarded Miller Paving Limited the contract for this year's work on the city's 10 year Connecting Link project. It will cost the city $3,517,573.93 plus HST.
Miller's bid was the only one the city received for the project.
This year's work will be a 1.2 kilometre stretch of Highway 101 East, from the end of last year's work near the Tisdale Cemetery to the bottom of Rae Hill. It will include 'pulverizing, paving, and lighting'. Work is scheduled to get underway in early July, with an end date of September 8. No photos, imagery, or graphics were included in the public portion of the report. No details on the exact thickness of the asphalt that will be used in this phase were included, something that was a major point of controversy last year in the council chambers.
"This is the item that the CAO presented to us a few meetings back on how we were going to proceed with the Connecting Link," said Mayor Steve Black, in reference to a presentation from city CAO Dave Landers on May 4.
After receiving the maximum level of funding possible in 2016, the city was shut out completely of provincial Connecting Links dollars in 2017, which Black called 'disappointing to say the least'. Landers told council that a new 'risk-based' plan was needed. He recommended the city borrow $4 million for work on the project over the next ten years, a move ultimately approved by council.
Councillor Pat Bamford requested a reminder of the city's estimated cost for 'Phase 2'.
"I know we're borrowing this money, and we had a plan to do a variety of things with it, if you could refresh my memory on what we were considering would be the value?...Is this below or above what we expected to spend on that project?" he asked.
Black replied that it was approximately $260,000 under the city's original estimate.
"What we did was, in this year's budget, we had funds allocated to the Connecting Link, in anticipation of getting provincial dollars. When we didn't get those provincial dollars we came back with a report that suggested that we look at continuing with the next planned phase anyways, going out to debenture, and taking a portion of the dollars that were in our current year budget to direct towards shave-and-pave additional programming. Then to put some in reserve to pay the future payments on the debenture that we'd be taking out, which will kick in, in terms of repayment in 2018. So 2018's payment on the debenture should be paid with the funds that were in the budget for this year, meaning that we wouldn't see an increase necessarily next year. But as those funds wear out, we'd have to build up the funds within the roads program to pay for the debenture," said Black.
'Phase 1' construction on Highway 101 East in August 2016. Andrew Autio for TimminsToday Bamford then asked for a tangible point of reference for exactly how much distance will be completed on the Connecting Link in 2017.
"Actually right to the bottom of the hill? Or do we have any idea?" he said.
"The approximate distance, approximately is 1.2 kilometres," replied city Engineering Manager Pat Seguin, who reiterated that the work will go from 'the end of last summer's project to 1.2 kilometres towards the west.'
Councillor Walter Wawrzaszek asked Seguin about the lighting component of the contract.
"Are we going to be replacing the old lights that are there now? Are they going to be all new right up through the bottom of Rae Hill?," he asked.
Seguin replied that the current light standards will all be replaced with new standards and fixtures.
When it came time for the vote, Councillors Bamford, Joe Campbell, Rick Dubeau, Mike Doody, Noella Rinaldo, and Walter Wawrzaszek voted in favour of the agreement with Miller Paving. Councillor Andrew Marks was the lone opposing vote. Councillor Veronica Farrell was not present.
