City of Powell River officials have requested quotes on civil engineering consultation for waterfront projects.
The bid is for a standing offer for a consultant to work on a variety of waterfront projects, including the north and south harbours, the Wharf at Westview and the seawalk. The work varies from project management, construction supervision and inspection, providing technical advice and direction to city staff, as well as reviewing tenders and environmental, civil and construction aspects of the projects.
“This is work that has to be done, that is necessary,” said Richard Stogre, manager of engineering services. “This is the method to get it done.”
Funding for the work would come from project budgets, explained Stogre. “We monitor the overall budgets on a consistent basis,” he said. “Of course, we wouldn’t spend any money that we don’t have.”
The projects are being divided into smaller components to give local businesses an opportunity to bid on some aspects of the work. For example, Stogre said, the city awarded contracts for supplying timber and for the cutting, drilling and treatment of new floats for the south harbour. “We will be advertising very shortly for assembly of all that material,” he said. “Although it will still be a large amount of money and we will still have to advertise nationally, there is an opportunity for contractors in town to bid on this work.”
The $6.2-million south harbour project will almost double the size of the facility by adding a float system. The existing entrance will be closed and the breakwater will be extended. The existing breakwater between the barge facility and the harbour will be removed. The work is funded by a combination of grants from Western Economic Diversification Canada and Island Coastal Economic Trust, as well as borrowing.
The federal funding is not from one of the programs that have been extended to October 31, which means the city is facing a March 31 deadline for the project. Both staff and councillors are lobbying the government to have the deadline extended.
The contractor for the rock work in the south harbour, Fraser River Pile and Dredging Inc. (FRPD), is dismantling the berm on which a propane tank sat. The large rocks from the berm will be used in the extension of the breakwater on the west side of the harbour.
Stogre said the smaller rock that was inside the berm can also be reused. “It’s really important, because before we started this work, we could have had a poorly constructed berm with very poor materials,” he said. “As it’s turning out, they’re good materials and we’re able to reuse them at the end of the breakwater, which is really important to our project. Otherwise, we would have to purchase new.”
All in-water work has to be completed by February 15, which is the deadline imposed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. “When we began this project, we had a very short time window,” said Stogre. “We were successful in negotiating with FRPD to speed up their work by double shifting.”
The company’s schedule has the work completed by the deadline, Stogre said. “That doesn’t mean it won’t extend a little bit into the fisheries window,” he said. “I expect that we’ll have to make an application for that and my understanding is that is usually provided for people working in the water.”
Councillor Chris McNaughton, chair of the Westview Waterfront Project Committee, said the city is in the final phases of negotiating with Catalyst Paper Corporation to temporarily move the barge facility to a location on the company’s property while it works through rezoning and permanent location.
