KAGAWONG – While a request for proposals to carry out work on the Main Street hill project has received very good response thus far, a concern has been raised that a potential hydrocarbon contaminant may have been found within the project boundaries in Kagawong.
At a Billings council meeting in December, Todd Gordon, Billings economic development officer said, “the Main Street Hill project has gone to tender. The closing date for the RFP (request for proposal) is February 5. This has been listed by our engineer company on Biddingo, online, and a week into the RFP session we have had 22 (potential bidders) pick up the documents, which is a good sign.”
“It’s running the course for now,” said Mr. Gordon, who noted, “I’m not aware of any addendums that have to be issued. The RFP for construction of this project was opened/released on December 11 and will close on February 5, 2021, giving prospective bidders a significant amount of time to prepare detailed proposals.
However, Mr. Gordon told council, “the other piece of news we have is that it has been discovered within the project boundaries an area with hydrocarbon contamination. We don’t know to what extent this is yet, but more engineering is needed to be done on it.”
In a staff memo to council, Megan Bonenfant, deputy clerk of Billings stated that the geo-technical work undertaken in support of the project design has uncovered a potential hydrocarbon contamination in an area within the project boundaries.
“Further investigative work is required to determine the extent of the contamination and remediation options. This work is time-sensitive, as the sooner we understand the extent of the issue, the less likely any remediation work will delay the preconstruction project. Staff has requested a cost estimate of the investigation from Exp Services Inc. but have not received the estimate at the time of writing this memo. Exp Services Inc. is the engineering firm currently engaged for the Main Street reconstruction project and is qualified to understand the work.”
Council passed a motion to authorize staff to engage Exp Services Inc. to conduct investigative work to determine the extent of potential hydrocarbon contamination within the Main Street reconstruction project and develop recommended solutions.
“I want to thank Todd for providing such a thorough report,” said Councillor Bryan Barker.
It was pointed out by Mayor Ian Anderson that later that day a cost estimate had come in from Exp to do testing of the site.
“The cost is just under $20,000,” said township clerk Kathy McDonald.
Mr. Gordon told council at a recent meeting, “for the site contamination and remediation work to be done, this will be dealt with by the successful bidder (of the RFP).”
