The District of Houston has chosen Kamloops-based contractor Progrus Constructors Inc. as the company to reconstruct 10th Street below and above the surface in the downtown core and to undertake two other civil works projects this year.
Progrus submitted a bid of $3,444,865.73 which was lower than the $3,828,775.34 quote submitted by Terus Construction, the only other company to submit a price.
Constructing a right hand turn lane from Copeland onto Hwy16 and putting in drainage and building a sidewalk on the southside of Hwy16 from Butler to Copeland flesh out the Progrus contract.
The total project price comes to $4,118,865.73 when $500,000 for contract administration and various construction inspection services and a five per cent contingency of $175,000 is included.
That total price is $1,088.865.73 more than originally budgeted, but council decided to take that amount from a $1.759 million Growing Communities grant being provided to the District from the province this year to make up the difference.
In presenting the information to council members at its March 21 meeting, District chief administrative officer Michael Dewar said cost pressures this year are significantly higher than last year.
He also reminded council that no companies were prepared to undertake the projects last year.
And even though latest figures indicate inflation is slowing, costs within B.C. are expected to remain high, Dewar added.
“If we hold off, it will be more expensive in future years,” he said.
During discussion, council members did not question the need to top up the budget using a provincial grant but did clarify how the project cost was being covered and to what extent.
Dewar and District finance director Jennifer Larson said the major of the financing is coming from a series of provincial and federal grants and, when added up, amounts to 87 per cent of the total project cost.
Aside from the $1 million being taken from the $1.759 million the District is getting from the recently announced provincial Growing Communities Fund, it is also using just over $1.25 million from another major provincial grant received in 2019 and 2020.
A federal grant of $656,250 for 10th Street was announced last year but it has a time limit of when it must be used.
“It goes away next year if we don’t use it,” said Dewar.
A further $200,000 is coming from the Northern Development Initiative Trust and federal gas tax rebates amount to $370,000.
The District will use monies within its water and sewer reserves to flesh out the financing.
Councillor Tom Euverman did ask when work might start and was told by Dewar that dates can now be worked out with the granting of the contract to Progrus.
Councillor Troy Reitsma wondered when the District will ask for bids on this year’s paving projects, suggesting that with Progrus having equipment already in town, it might offer an attractive price.
“That’s dependent on establishing the [District] budget first, and as soon as we have that, we’ll get that [paving tender] out,” replied Dewar.
The 10th St. work continues the District’s long range plan to redo underground works and the surfaces of 9th, 10th and 11th in the downtown core.
The work on 9th St. completed last year was the first phase and that project was handled by Terus, the unsuccessful bidder this time for 10th St. It is based in Surrey and operates in the area through subsidiary Canyon Contracting in Smithers.