More than a million dollars worth of capital projects should be getting underway in Sicamous.
District council recently approved tenders from three companies for separate projects. The biggest ticket item – sort of two projects in one – was awarded to Vic Van Isle Construction Ltd. for $635,000. This involved replacing the Highway 97A water main, as well as tie ins from the water and waste water mains crossing the Eagle River beneath the Sicamous-Solsuqua Bridge.
The winning bid came in under budget at $537,621 (the total cost includes engineering fees, taxes and charges). Competing bids came in at $661,741 (Grizzly Excavating Ltd.) and $800,071 (Kan-Arm Contracting Ltd.).
The second project, replacing 106 metres of sanitary sewer main on Mara Lake Lane, was also awarded to Vic Van Isle with a bid of $300,490. The competing bid, from TNC Excavating Ltd., was $4,000 more. The total cost of the project is $400,000, and is also within budget.
Operations manager Randy Hand suggested the district was able to get a better price from the winning bidder with their having tendered quotes on the two projects.
Kicking Horse Construction Ltd. was awarded the third contract, for the renovating the curling rink lobby. The cost of the project is $125,000, with Kicking Horse’s bid, the only one submitted, coming in at $99,566. Hand called Kicking Horse a reputable contractor, but said he was disappointed that only one bid was received. He said there was lots of interest, and some contractors visited the site.
Coun. Suzanne Carpenter asked why these contracts were advertised on BC Bid, a provincial government website dedicated to contract procurement, but not locally.
“I know I had someone call me and ask me why there’s not advertising in the paper,” said Carpenter.
Hand replied requests for proposals/estimates are advertised locally through the district’s website, as well as on BC Bid.
“We can advertise in the papers… We haven’t in the past,” said Hand. “Most of the companies are directly in line with BC Bid, so if we’re putting out for a truck tender for example, all of the local automobile dealers automatically get sent a notice.”