Monday's city council meeting starts at 2 p.m. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Council preview

More bad news on pump house price and new agreement for trailer court water on council agenda

Aug 24, 2020 | 8:00 AM

A new service agreement to keep the taps on in two trailer courts south of Prince Albert is on Monday’s city council agenda.

Residents of Driftwood and Eastview Trailer Courts received water discontinuation notices earlier this summer when negotiations between the City and the courts’ owners stalled.

Monday’s agenda indicates the owners have already signed the new five-year agreement and agreed to pay $90,000 upfront.

Costly project up for debate

The city’s politicians will also discuss awarding the tender for the construction of a new raw water pump house at the water treatment plant at a cost of $18,177,940.

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The project has been a source of distress for councillors since the fall, when they learned its estimated cost had ballooned to over double the initial estimate of $4.54 million. At a November meeting, with the detailed design drawing for the project 66 per cent complete, a different firm now estimated the project would cost $10.1 million.

By the time the project was ready to go out for tender, the estimated cost was $15 million. The city applied for a grant that would cover up to 73 per cent of the project.

Monday’s agenda indicates that the grant was not approved and Prince Albert will be responsible for funding the entire project.

City staff recommended using $4.9 million from the federal gas tax, $1.2 from an existing loan, and taking out a new $12.9 million loan to cover the remainder of the project.

Council could choose to delay the project. But a report prepared by city staff cautions that repair costs for the existing aging pump house are rising.

Emergency repairs to the facility in the first eight months of 2020 totalled $86,000.

New rules for food trucks and a potential program that would see more sidewalks created in the city are among other items on the agenda.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom