The regional waterline is $11-million over budget, and that means the project is waiting in the wings until further notice from the province.
Tenders for two of the four projects for the regional waterline came in higher than expected. The original $72-million price tag has jumped to $83-million.
“Two of the contracts were under budget, one was over by $1-million, and then we were waiting the tender results from the water treatment plant, and that’s the one that was the major overage,” explained Town of Bonnyville Mayor Gene Sobolewski, who has been named chair of the Bonnyville Water Commission.
During the most recent meeting between the Bonnyville and Cold Lake water commissions, they discussed options moving forward.
All of the parties involved agreed they would approach the province about making up for the $11-million shortfall, and until they get written confirmation that’s the case, they will hold off on awarding any of the tenders.
“We’re very optimistic there will be money available for the projects. The four companies involved have agreed to hold their bids. We’re basically in a standby mode right now while we wait for the province to come up with the extra funding,” City of Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland detailed. “The regional service commission and all of the parties involved are saying the same thing – that it wouldn’t make sense to do three of the four contracts, you might as well do it as an entire package.”
Reeve Greg Sawchuk, vice-chair for the Bonnyville Water Commission, said they also touched on Aboriginal consultation during their meeting.
He noted, “The problem is this project hasn’t passed the Aboriginal consultation. We’re looking for Cold Lake First Nations (CLFN) approval that they don’t have any hardship with the waterline, because it’s for their benefit anyways.”
Once construction is underway, the pipeline will transport water from Cold Lake to the Town of Bonnyville, with a few communities tapping into the waterline along the way.
This includes a tie-in for CLFN, with future opportunities for Frog Lake, and other areas.
The route has been mapped out, but there could be some changes depending on certain variables such as land ownership.
But for now, they’re just waiting patiently for the government to get back to them about the $11-million, with the spring of 2020 funding deadline looming.
In order to get an answer sooner rather than later, the water commissions and project organizers are putting pressure on the province, referencing the deadlines for awarding the tenders.
“Once we knew that and the tenders were known, the time ticks in terms of the ability to award. This is where we have been focusing our intention with the Province of Alberta,” Sobolewski said, adding there is proper protocol that has to be followed in order to solidify the funding.
Copeland added, “We feel it’s just a matter of people waiting for the government to get together and try to find the money.”
Regardless of these setbacks, they’re confident the project will forge ahead.
“I think people should realize that it has been a great project regionally. Everyone from CLFN, the City of Cold Lake, the town and the MD, everybody’s wanting to execute this,” expressed Copeland. “It’s a good project, it’s just a matter of these things aren’t cheap, we just have to find the cash.”
