BONNYVILLE – A persistent roof leak at the Town of Bonnyville’s West Industrial Lift Station needs to be addressed sooner rather than later to prevent the possibility of significant damage.
However, price variations for the roof replacement caused some concern among council members who were tasked with approving a project budget on Oct. 10.
Administration is looking to replace the lift station’s flat roof with a peaked, light weight tin roof that would resolve the water leak issue and prolong the life of the existing building.
The concern is that if the roof is not replaced soon it will continue to cause damage, potentially affecting the electrical integrity, structural and system components of the building. This could result in a larger cost to repair it in the future.
Previous attempts to fix the flat roof were unsuccessful, heard council.
Due to the small size and scope of the roof replacement, Town administration sent out 12 requests for pricing rather than requesting official tenders.
Administrators hoped to receive at least six responses to give them a clear indication of the cost of the project, but only two quotes were received by the municipality, explained Renee Stoyles, the general manager of corporate services for the Town.
A Bonnyville company priced the project at $29,420, while a company from Fort McMurray provided a quote of $16,300 for the roof replacement.
With only two companies submitting prices, the difference was startingly for Town council.
“I'm having a real hard time with the gap in price, and I hear what you're saying it has to do with maybe the time of the year, but it's hard for me to think that a company from Fort Mac is half the price of a local company,” stated Mayor Elisa Brosseau.
“Looking at it makes me think ‘Are they even bidding on the same tender? Are they reading the packages?’ I just don't understand.”
While administration did not have additional information to explain the difference between the two project prices, they were requesting council approve a budget for the project without awarding a contract so that they could continue to seek other prices.
“At the end of the day, I think we want this done by the end of this year,” said Brad Trimble, the Town’s general manager of operations and engineering.
“By having [a budgeted] price that we know can be done this year. It still gives us the option to get some more pricing and maybe more competitive local pricing.”
Council agreed to approve $16,300 in funds with a 10 per cent variance for a total cost of up to $17,115 to facilitate the completion of the lift station roof replacement.
The funds for the project will come out of the municipality's Sewer Operating Reserve.
