With so many capital projects about to get underway, city council was all business this week.
Two contracts worth a combined total of $526,000 were awarded; one for a $283,000 addition to the Trail aquatic centre, the other for landscaping work at the walking bridge approaches.
Monday night, Coun. Kevin Jolly reported that the Columbia River Skywalk has reached substantial completion status and has now been paid for. Residual tests involving coupling joints remain outstanding due to the cold climate, but Jolly says respective work should begin in a few weeks.
“This process of re-testing cannot occur until the ground frost levels decrease,” he explained. “It is expected that some of this work would commence later this month when the team from Graham Infrastructure is back in town.”
With bridge use in full swing and snow finally melting, Trail council tackled Phase 2 of the project’s landscaping needs by awarding Sierra Landscaping Ltd. $242,000 to complete the next stage of work.
Three bids were put forward, though one was disqualified. The Okanagan-based company was the low bidder and awarded the job at the Monday governance meeting. (Sierra Landscaping has completed much work around the city since 2014, after being awarded finishing work in the Victoria Street Revitalization project)
The first stage of the Skywalk job has a six-week timeline and includes site preparations required for concrete work and grass, concrete work, conduit where required, as well as sod and hydroseeding for both the north and south plazas.
The ensuing phases of work are contingent upon Trail being successful in a Bike BC grant application. The city is waiting to hear back whether its $190,000 grant application was successful. Those funds are needed to cover Phase 2 costs such as electrical, irrigation and furnishing for both approaches and the final stages of greenery such as perennials, shrubs and trees for the north and south plazas.
Coun. Jolly mentioned a third tender, estimated upwards of $1 million, which is open to bids until month end. This one involves all the earthworks for a new terminal building at the Trail Regional Airport.
“The contract should be awarded shortly thereafter with construction expected to begin in April,” he said. “It is anticipated that substantial completion of the $2.5 million portion of the project should occur by December this year,” he added. “The city is currently awaiting a response from the Ministry of Transport on our ACAP (Airport Capital Assistance Program) submission to resurface the runway.”
In September Trail council agreed to forego new construction per se, and approved a pre-engineered building and concrete slab as the most cost effective and timely way to proceed with the new terminal.
The earthworks portion of the project presently out to tender, includes all the finishes, such as civil, mechanical and electrical work, that must be completed to make the pre-fab “shell” into a terminal building.
“This new terminal building will provide increased capacity for future expansion, as well as a more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing environment for the flying public who choose YZZ as their connecting point from the Kootenay region to the Lower Mainland,” Jolly told the Trail Times. “We are very proud of the plan that has been developed in collaboration with MMM Group, True Engineering and our other partner Stanley Office of Architecture. We believe it will more than meet our current needs and the needs of the travelling public well into the future.”