WEYBURN – A number of contracts for various infrastructure projects were approved by Weyburn city council at their May 8 meeting, including for asphalt, concrete and sidewalk improvements for 2023.
For projects requiring asphalt and concrete, the City has a budget this year of $700,000, and projects totaling $560,000 of that amount were approved.
For the asphalt projects, two of the three projects proposed were approved for this year, and a third was put over to 2024 due to the extent of work required, and the costs involved.
Genco Asphalt Inc. of Estevan was approved for Fifth Street and Brownlee Street, in the amount of $400,867, and FH Concrete Supplies will do the curb and gutter along Fifth Street, along with sidewalk replacements on Prairie Avenue and Second Street, at a total cost of $214,446. Council also approved taking $55,313 out of reserves to cover the full amount of these two contracts.
Engineer Jennifer Wilkinson explained that the paving project on Railway Avenue was taken out and rescheduled for 2024, but will do work on catch basins and storm lines on Railway this year in preparation for the larger project next year.
She noted with the winter thaw, there were drainage issues found on Railway, which has led to the roadway failure, and taking the time to do the additional infrastructure repairs will help the roadways to last longer once they are completed.
“We’ll fix the drainage issues so it’ll be a long-term repair,” she said. “If we can add additional storm lines, this will buy us a lot more years.”
She added a thin layer will be done this year on the road to enable it to be used for this year until the full project can be completed next year.
The approved sidewalk replacements will be on Prairie Avenue between Fourth and Sixth Streets, and on Second Street between Bison and Prairie Avenues. The curb and gutters will be replaced on Fifth Street between Coteau and Prairie Avenues, with the work including removal of existing buried concrete curbing, replacing unsuitable base materials and compacting new base materials with installation of a new curb and gutter.
The paving of Fifth Street will be between Coteau and Prairie Avenues, stripping the roadway down to the subgrade, with reconstruction and repaving with 75mm asphalt, and Brownlee Street will be recapped with 50mm of asphalt.
FH Concrete was also approved for the installation of accessible pedestrian ramps in six locations.
These include at Second Street and Prairie Avenue on the southwest and southeast corners; Government Road and Railway Avenue on the northwest, southwest and southeast corners; and 13th Street and First Avenue on the southeast corner.
In addition, sidewalks will be repaired on the west side of Government Road between Souris and Railway Avenues, to fix tripping hazards on a high-use pedestrian route. The approved bid was $28,800 for the pedestrian ramps, and $24,570 for the sidewalk repairs.
Council also approved a bid by Genco Asphalt of $56,121 to pave a portion of the East Coteau Trail and a portion of the Signal Hill park trail.
• In other council business, a project to design and install new HVAC equipment for the City’s water treatment plant was approved.
Council was told there is only one exhaust fan in each of the two plants, and the existing HVAC system cannot maintain a minimum temperature of 18 degrees, or an emergency temp buffer of 5 degrees during the peak winter season.
The lack of ventilation has resulted in high humidity levels and high concentrations of chlorine in the water treatment plant, which causes corrosion of mechanical and electrical equipment, and inadequate working conditions for operational staff.
Triple AEC Ltd. was awarded the project for $39,853 to do the design over the summer, and then they will go to construction later.
• Council also approved a contract for a portable landfill litter fence to be built locally, to help with the litter problems at the city landfill.
Three local fabricators were contacted for bids, and of the three bids, the winning bid was by Endeavour Metalworks in the amount of $42,750.
The contract will be to supply a 24-foot by 15-foot portable fence, to supplement the existing perimeter fence.
