BONNYVILLE – The issues surrounding the modernization of Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) is what brought Alberta’s Minister of Infrastructure to town.
On Feb. 13, the lack of local representation on the project, impacts it has on the local economy, and the timeline were discussed between Minister Prasad Panda, Mayor Gene Sobolewski, Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul MLA Dave Hanson, local contractors, and Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) board vice-chair Michael Topylki.
Hanson requested the meeting after hearing concerns from constituents.
“We just basically wanted to review the bidding process and how it works,” he noted. “It’s still a little frustrating from all sides that our local contractors didn’t get an opportunity to bid on it.”
Sobolewski agreed, “We had a few local contractors that were overlooked by the ministry in the prequalification process… They weren’t shortlisted through the prequalification process, so in other words, they weren’t allowed to bid.”
Although the meeting didn’t change the fact that no local contractors were included, Sobolewski and Hanson hope the sit down results in some adjustments in the future.
“It was more based on the technical process and the subjectivity and apparent subjectivity and the increase of the risk of bias that is inherit of the prequalification process,” Sobolewski said.
If local contractors had been included in the process, it could have had a positive impact on the economy.
“We’re already hurting up here, but the fact that our contractors that hire local people and buy local didn’t get the chance to bid on a project that’s right in our backyard is frustrating,” Hanson explained. “That, and the fact that we’re in the middle of February and the kids have been out of the school since August and we don’t have shovels in the ground or a contractor awarded yet.”
In March 2017, the provincial government committed $500-million to renovate BCHS. The project has since been continually behind schedule, with it just going to tender in January of this year.
Students are currently using space at the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre for the 2019/20 school year, and NLPS has been left in the dark about a completion date.
“It’s frustrating that our timelines didn’t work out like they were suppose to… and it looks like work is just going to be starting this summer,” noted Topylki.
Hanson agreed, “The original schedule had the kids going back to the school on Jan. 31 of this year. It’s kind of come off the rails a little bit, and hopefully, once it gets going, it’s a smooth operation.”
Learning more about what caused the delays and getting students back into the building was what Panda plans to work on.
“I will go back, talk to my officials, and find out, because they’re concerned about the timing. I’ll go and… make sure that we recover the time lost because of the election and then bring it back on track,” he told the Nouvelle.
Since the area was hit so hard due to the decline in the oil and gas industry, ensuring local contractors have the ability to bid on major projects could help in the long-run.
“The region is very dependent on oil and gas. They have the same concerns as Fort McMurray, Cold Lake, Peace River, and all of the other oil producing regions in Alberta. We understand their concerns, and I have sympathy because I worked in the industry for 28 years, so I fully understand their concerns,” detailed Panda. “It’s not just the commodity price, but it’s also the policies of the federal government and the previous NDP government that brought us to this situation, which we’re trying to correct by reducing the taxes for the investors, cutting red tape and regulations, and we’re also trying to bring in… business-friendly labour reforms.”
In order to assist with infrastructure in the region, Panda also discussed reviewing local proposals for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP).
“We endorsed a couple of those projects, and now we have to get the federal government to also approve those projects and get federal money,” he said.
At this time in the process, Panda couldn’t share which ones have received provincial backing due to the agreement with the federal government.
With his quick trip behind him, Panda is looking forward to future meetings to see what can be done to help get the economy back on track.
“It’s my job to go and meet stakeholders in all areas… It’s our job, and between the assembly sessions when we’re not sitting in Edmonton, I do a lot of travel across the province to meet all of the concerned stakeholders to hear their issues, concerns, and try to help them resolve those issues and concerns.”
