Construction is expected to begin shortly on the second and largest phase of the rural water twinning project that will hook up rural property owners with the Town of Osoyoos municipal water system.

On Monday, Town of Osoyoos council approved Grizzly Excavating from Penticton as the winning bidder on the $1.93 million contract.

Jim Dinwoodie, the Town’s director of operational services, said Grizzly’s bid of $1.93 million was more than $800,000 cheaper than the only other bid from a contractor in Victoria.

“In accordance with conditions of the Town’s water systems operating permit as issued by Interior Health Authority (IHA), options for Systems 8 and 9 compliance with the Drinking Water Protection Act were assessed in 2007,” said Dinwoodie, during a presentation to council. “In a report dated August, 2008, a long range compliance plan is described comprising a twin domestic water system in the service areas of Systems 8 and 9, which would be supplied by the Town’s municipal system wells.

“This project is the second phase of the implementation of the plan to comply with IHA and the Drinking Water Protection Act.

The project will continue to twin irrigation system 8 and consists of installing hundreds of metres of watermains, three bored crossings across Hwy. 97, 30 water meter pit chambers and 6,000 square meters of pavement restoration, said Dinwoodie.

The construction component on the Grizzly tender for Contract 2 of the twinning program, not including contingency and GST, is $1.418 million, which is $175,000 under the referenced budget of $1.593 million, said Dinwoodie.

The design as tendered has substantially less pavement restoration than anticipated at the time that the budget was originally prepared back in 2011.

The tender “under budget” amount of $175,000 will, to a significant degree, offset the over budget contract award amount for the first contract.

This water twinning project will result “in improved water quality for the residents of Irrigation System 8 and the elimination of the need to issue an annual boil water notice to Irrigation System 8 users from April to November,” he said.

The overall three contract budget for this entire twinning project will remain within the overall $3.723 million total budget, said Dinwoodie.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure will only allow work to take place in the Highway 97 Right of Way prior to the May 22 holiday long week, so it is recommended this contract be awarded as soon as possible, he said.

The first phase in the $3.7 million project was completed last year.

A total of 66 per cent of the funding for this project came from infrastructure grants from the senior levels of government, while the final 33 per cent came from the Town’s reserve funds for water-related capital projects.

Mayor Sue McKortoff said she was slightly shocked that the only other bid was significantly higher than the one submitted by Grizzly Excavating.

Dinwoodie commented the Victoria contractor’s high bid was likely related to the fact they would have to bring most of their work crew from Victoria to Osoyoos to complete the project.

It’s always encouraging when South Okanagan contractors can be hired to complete major infrastructure projects, said McKortoff.

With the May 22 deadline looming, Dinwoodie said he expected construction on this project to commence very shortly.

Grizzly Excavating is one of the largest and most successful construction companies operating anywhere in the South Okanagan.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times