LAC LA BICHE - "We used the most accurate numbers we had at the time."
Those numbers, says Lac La Biche County's acting CAO Dan Small, projected that the next two phases of the Lac La Biche Main Street revitalization plan would cost ratepayers $15 million. Those same numbers, he said, were set into the municipal budget by county councillors last December — just four months before last Tuesday's tender opening blasted a hole in the budget process.
The costs submitted by four firms bidding on the Main Street project came in well over the budget. The lowest of the four bids was $24.6 million — almost two-thirds more than the price tag that councillors, administration and hired consultants had been using in the promotion of the project. The highest of the bids was more than double the budget for the project that will see the replacement of decades-old utility pipes, plus surface upgrades to sidewalks, gutters and road surfaces through the Lac La Biche downtown.
"It was certainly unexpected," Small told Lakeland This Week following the opening of the tenders, explaining that councillors and administration did ask for, and receive, regular updates on the costing of the project from their consultants over the last four years of planning. "We regularly did that ... but unfortunately, you just don't know for sure until you open (the tenders)."
"It's not dead. It just needs to be re-packaged"
— Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov
Lac La Biche County communications manager Jihad Moghrabi said several factors could have affected the budget estimates, including supply and demand, sharp increases in utility, transportation and material costs, manpower shortages and other factors associated with continuing effects of the global pandemic.
He says that between the time the final budget was presented by councillors last December and when construction companies received the bid requests in April, economic challenges in many areas have multiplied
"There has been a pretty abrupt shift in the markets — they've shifted quite a bit in that time, and it has been difficult to predict," he said.
Looking them over
Municipal officials are offering some hope that the budget estimates and the actual tender costs my move a little closer after the documents are better examined by municipal staff and consultants.
"We need to go through them properly — Reading a final number is one thing, but now we need to look into them to see if there is any room," Moghrabi said, understanding that the public may already be concerned about the initial numbers that were announced last week.
Comments by residents on the Lac La Biche POST social media page showed the frustration of some community members. Several comments suggested that council and planners scale back the project, removing some of the extra additions like sidewalk bulbouts and ornate benches. Others suggested scrapping the project all together, while others feared that other future projects — like the proposed $27-million new aquatic centre project — could be affected by inaccurate budgeting.
"The public is free to share their thoughts with council," said Moghrabi.
Once the tenders are examined, they will be brought back to council. Small says there can be a 30 to 60-day window before any tender is awarded. He also said — as with any decision by council — they could vote to cancel or postpone the project.
Lac La Biche County council's next public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 10. Small is not expecting any formal decision to be made about the Main Street project at that meeting.
Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov says council still has several options when it comes to the project, starting with a thorough examination of the current tenders. He says there are several questions he has noted in his initial viewing of the tenders — including at least one reference to a one million dollar cost for "traffic control."
Aside from individual line items in the bids that will have to be reviewed, Reutov says the high bid amounts weren't all together surprising considering the state of the current global economy. High prices are not uncommon these days, says the mayor who owns construction and development companies in the region.
"It was a little bit surprising, I would say, that it came in where it did, but also not surprising because ... you know, quotes are coming in now that are unrealistic, no matter which field you are in," he said.
The mayor's own opinion would be to explore the idea of breaking down the single project tender into smaller bidding packages.
"Perhaps it could be divided into smaller, bite-sized projects," he said, suggesting the smaller projects would bring more contractors that could add up to lower overall costs. "We could portion it out — and maybe get some local contractors."
Project's future
As council and County officials dive into the tenders and available options, the construction window for 2022 gets tighter. Admitting that plans to re-assemble the tendering process will take time that could delay the project, the mayor is still in favour of the downtown makeover.
The mayor suspects the budget questions and further discussions will likely push the project's start date back to next year.
"It's not dead. It just needs to be re-packaged," he said, emphasizing the design work that has been discussed for the last four years and approved by council is not expected to change ... just the way the project will be built. "The design is there, it's on a silver platter. Now its a matter of executing."
