Two paving tenders totalling more than $1 million were awarded by city council this week.
At its regular meeting Tuesday evening council approved Peter Bros. Contracting’s bid of $427,390 for pavement rehabilitation and Peterson Contracting Ltd.’s bid of $726,230 for reconstructing Borland Street.
Because the original budget for the rehabilitation project was $630,000, staff suggested the surplus be reallocated for extra contingency on the Borland Street reconstruction and further paving.
With the rehabilitation being below budget the city has the ability to extend the amount of work being done without any impact to the 2014 budget, CAO Darrell Garceau told council.
Coun. Geoff Bourdon said the longer roads go that have a lot of base failure, the more it costs significantly down the road.
“If we have roads that are ahead in that respect we will save money in the long run,” Bourdon said. “In this case we are moving forward and if we do have savings it would be far better to keep paving than save it to the end of the budget to say we had a surplus.”
Coun. Surinderpal Rathor said it was a win-win situation the tenders had come in under budget and that they were awarded to local companies.
“Staff has assured me the projects will be completed by the end of the fall,” he added.
Council had to make tough decisions on the budget and raising taxes in 2014, Coun. Laurie Walters said referring to the three per cent increase, which included a plan to put two per cent aside for future paving projects.
“The majority of council recognized the need for this type of construction,” Walters said. “It’s very exciting to know that we are moving forward on time and within budget. It’s tax dollars well spent.”