Salmon Arm residents will be asked to support borrowing an additional $4 million to construct the new Zone 2 pump station in Canoe.
At its May 12 meeting, council was largely speechless when presented with new motions for consideration related to the project, including one to give three readings towards a loan authorization bylaw that would seek elector approval using an alternative approval process to borrow $3,992,950 for construction.
Last year the city used the same process to borrow $4,226,850 for the project. Through the tender process, however, the city found that would not be enough to do the work of relocating and replacing the 54-year-old infrastructure that has exceeded its useful life.
With authorization to borrow the $4.2 million, staff explained an invitation to tender was issued in December 2024 for construction. The three compliant bids received were "significantly over budget," with the lowest coming in at $7.89 million. Staff and the project's appointed engineer, WSP Canada, discussed with the low bidder options for reducing project costs but could not find a way to bring it within budget.
Staff then cancelled the tender and, through a "value-engineering process," identified "cost reduction measures which could significantly reduce the cost of the project." A key piece of those measures involve moving the pump station east of the city's water treatment plant, into the adjacent Canoe Beach parking lot.
Before voting on borrowing, council voted to award WSP the task of providing a design modification in the amount of $138,830.00 plus GST, and authorized pre-approved contingency of $14,000. The design modification will include a geotechnical review of the new proposed location, "checking the wet-well dimensions and modifying electrical & piping configuration."
It was estimated the new location would result in the loss of eight parking spots, though Wilson said "we can get back at least that by adding parking along the boulevard space between the current parking lot and the treatment plant."
Regarding the new borrowing, due to timeline restrictions, staff recommended "proceeding with borrowing the extra money required to complete the project based on the existing design and tender prices," while also having the design modification done "which should result in significant project savings."
"Should the savings be realized through the design modifications and tender, there would be no anticipated impact on the borrowing process as the City would then borrow less than the approved amount," reads a staff report. "Alternatively, if the savings are not realized, the project could proceed without delay."
As with the previous loan, staff proposed a 30-year amortization period. Long-term borrowing requires elector assent. Through the alternative approval process, council may proceed with borrowing the funds if less than 10 per cent of the electors respond. Staff determined that number to be 1,480 electors.
"To me, we don’t really have a choice up here," commented Mayor Alan Harrison. "It's a cost that will impact over the long term."
Council gave three readings enabling the city to proceed with an alternative approval process.
