By Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
If the Town of Oliver won the lottery, it could complete a lot of capital projects, but until then it will have to wait.
Council did approve several projects in this year’s budget, but many had to be put on the back-burner until 2019 and beyond.
One such project is a movable speed reader and data collection board for $7,000. Council hopes this will help in its Traffic Calming Study.
Finishing off the remainder of Earle Crescent (from Okanagan to Kootenay) is another job on council’s radar – resurfacing and reconstructing the road base to make the corridor look better. The estimated cost is $525,000.
The Town is also looking at rehabilitating Veterans and Church Avenue for $148,000, and upgrading the other half of Station Street from Banks Avenue to Highway 97 for $750,000. This would include reconfiguring the Oliver Visitor Centre parking area.
Solar pathway lighting in the green space adjacent to Southern Okanagan Secondary School is slated to cost $30,000. This price will include 17 lights spaced out evenly to light the pathways at night.
Next up is the Town Hall siding. It is starting to show its age and a bit of rot in sections. In keeping with the original heritage, the Town is considering replacing the shingles with a similar look to the new roof, but the costs have increased over the years since shingles are no longer used as much in construction. The price tag is about $66,000.
A vactor truck is another piece of equipment the Town has its eye on. This truck (for $400,000 new) can be used for various jobs, such as excavating, tree planting, catch basin cleaning and sewer, canal and storm pipe cleaning. The Town of Osoyoos currently uses two of these trucks. Oliver is looking at purchasing a good used truck at approximately $250,000.
The Fairview Road bridge is in need of some tender loving rehabilitation work, specifically girder and corrosion mitigation and seal joint replacement. This will cost $154,000 and $148,000, respectively.
The Sawmill Road extension and Station Street upgrade project (tie-in) is slated to cost $1.7 million.
Director of Operations Shawn Goodsell said the storm sewer system is a big issue in this area of town and adds to the cost.
The CPR roof replacement is another project estimated to cost $37,500. Goodsell said they had the roof assessed and are able to get some problem spots patched up, but the entire roof will need replacing (with cedar shingles) within two to five years.
A service truck replacement (used for utility digs) could cost $120,000, but the Town may decide to keep the truck and just replace the box to save some money.
Continuing on, the Town is planning to upgrade the surfacing on Kootenay Street (from Hillcrest to Similkameen Avenue) for $1 million. This would include some extra repair work for sidewalk or curbing, and adding a proposed larger island at Bank and Kootenay for pedestrian crossing.
An $80,000 study for a second bridge crossing at Veterans and McKinney is also on the books.
A new bridge has been on the Town’s radar for years, but a traffic study is required before it goes any further. Goodsell said if a new bridge is built, new traffic diversion will affect existing and new intersections at McKinney/Park Drive, McKinney/Meadows Drive, Station Street/Veterans, and Veterans/Main Street.
For nearly $800,000, the Town is planning to extend the sidewalk, curb and storm drain along the north side of Fairview Road from Spartan Street to Princess Place.
The Sawmill Road rehabilitation project will involve repairing the road base and repaving from Similkameen to Oak Avenue for $511,000.
The Town is looking at purchasing or leasing a new Tennant sweeper for $350,000 because the existing one needs replacing.
A new intersection at McKinney, Tucelnuit and Spillway Road is still in the works. Goodsell said there are some land issues that need to be addressed, and all stakeholders need to decide when would be the ideal time to reconstruct the intersection.
“If the round-about design is chosen, it may cost the Town upwards of a million dollars to cover our portion,” Goodsell said.
Back to the Fairview Road bridge, the Town wants to make the approach to the bridge “smoother and more robust.” Goodsell said the approach is starting to show some wear and sinking.
Okanagan Street (from Co-op to Gala) is rated “poor,” so the plan is to reconstruct and resurface this section for $670,000.
School Avenue is also rated poor and requires reconstruction at a cost of $411,000.
