City may face higher costs for upgrades

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/08/2023 (1116 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon’s project to improve drainage infrastructure in its southeast could potentially be more expensive than originally planned, according to the city’s director of engineering.

To pay for the five-phase project, the city has authorized $30.14 million in borrowing, but the city’s worst-case scenario could have the costs get up to $58 million.

The work will consist of the construction of new storm sewers, retention ponds and other pieces of drainage infrastructure and the improvement of some existing infrastructure that carries rainwater into the Assiniboine River.

It is not connected to the wastewater lift station improvements targeted for southwest Brandon.

On Tuesday, engineering director Mark Allard said some anticipated prices have gone up as the city prepares to issue a tender for the first phase of construction this fall.

“I think a small part of it is due to some of the inflationary items,” Allard said. “I think a larger one may be more focused on groundwater, specifically in that area, and the cost to manage the groundwater during construction.”

With costs trending upwards for phase one, Allard said the city has extrapolated some of those additional prices onto future phases as it pursues funding applications.

When Winnipeg North Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux visited Brandon as a representative of the federal government earlier this year, he and Mayor Jeff Fawcett said the city had submitted a funding request through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund to help cover costs for the drainage project.

The worst-case scenario, Allard said, is that the total cost of the project could reach the neighbourhood of $58 million. In that case, he said the city would have some decisions to make about the scope of the project.

The city would have a better idea of the price tag after it puts out the tender for the first phase and has more concrete number with which to project future costs. However, Allard is hopeful federal funding will offset any extra costs.

“When we did put in for federal grants, we could get upwards of 50 per cent of the overall project value, so it might easily get us down below the $30 million that we need to borrow, depending on what the final dollars are,” Allard said.

So far, drainage improvements that have taken place include some interim improvements at the corner of First Street and Richmond Avenue and the creation of a new retention pond to the east of Brandon Municipal Cemetery.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» X: @ColinSlark