Total anticipated construction costs for the consolidated wastewater treatment plant are still under budget but are edging closer to the budgeted amount of $89,010,800.
At the March 24 City of Powell River finance committee meeting, manager of engineering services Nagi Rizk provided his monthly update, based on a report he wrote for the committee.
“I would like to highlight the total construction cost and the budget to date,” said Rizk. “It’s getting very slim.”
He said there was about an $856,000 differential between commitments and the total budget.
Rizk said the construction cost still has $2.2 million allocated for the contract let to Caribou Mountain Construction (CMC) for construction of the marine outfall for the plant. Rizk had said at the October 28, 2021, finance committee meeting that CMC is seeking monetary compensation for delayed claims after the contract was cancelled by the city. The matter is before the courts and has not been resolved.
“We don’t know how much that is going to cost,” said Rizk.
In his update, Rizk said the treatment plant construction site is progressing “really nicely.”
“We are very happy with that,” he added.
He said linear work, which involves laying the piping necessary to transport wastewater to the plant, ran into a snag in the Willingdon Beach campsite area.
According to Rizk’s written report, horizontal directional drilling (HDD) had been halted temporarily due to unexpected soil conditions at a certain depth.
“We are considering our options and will reconvene with HDD or other trenchless technologies when the best option is selected,” stated Rizk. “Meanwhile, and to remain on schedule, we are shifting the pipe-laying crew to the open cut work in the sections designated for open cut.”
Rizk, at the meeting, said options for HDD are being explored to brainstorm solutions. He is hoping that during the week of March 28 a decision will be made regarding the preferred option.
Councillor Cindy Elliott asked about the litigation, whether the city has insurance to cover litigation from a project cost.
Chief administrative officer Russell Brewer said the city is represented by the Municipal Insurance Association of BC.
Elliott asked if the city has the CMC contract in the fully budgeted cost from before, if having the money come from that allocation would be the worst case scenario. Brewer said that would be a fair assumption.
Councillor Jim Palm said he sees a lot of squares cut out of pavement on streets, and that is part of the archaeological process. He said some remnants have been encountered on Courtenay Street, he believes, and that work is ongoing.
“We know the park is a sensitive area and we know Willingdon Avenue along the beachfront could contain other artifacts,” said Palm. “Have we gotten any further information from the archaeological branch in terms of overall cost? I think I saw a figure of $50,000 in the budget originally.”
Rizk said it is difficult to anticipate what may be found when digging starts. He said for areas that have been completed archaeologically, money has been spent on a consultant. He added that some areas have not been cleared by the consultant and will have to be investigated at the time of excavation.
“We do know the sections that need further investigation so we can roughly guess how long it will take, but we don’t have a dollar figure attached to that,” said Rizk.
In his written report, Rizk stated that COVID-19 remains a threat to the economy in general and to the project supply chain more specifically, potentially affecting labour and material availability and/or cost. He stated that construction contractors consistently implement to the best of their abilities to address all safety measures on-site and off-site.
