City planning new snow dump

The City will be developing a new location to haul snow cleared from Yorkton streets.

"The City's existing snow dump site located on Dracup Avenue is the new location for the Parkland Regional College and Trades Center scheduled to begin development in the fall of 2013," Trent Mandzuk, Director of Public Works with the City told the regular meeting of Council Monday.

Mandzuk said the need for a new dump site is a chance to improve how the site will function.

"In addition to accommodating future development, the present site provides no consideration for the prevention of soil/groundwater contamination and erosion/sediment control. The new snow dump will offer snow management processes to help mitigate pollution from snow water run-off. The site will include the construction of a settling pond for hydrological control of melt-water," he said. " This drainage channel connects to Yorkton Creek, which flows northward into the Whitesand River system."

It should be noted that at present, no guidelines exist that explicitly regulate snow dump location, design or management practices. Development and enforcement is not currently planned but future regulations may be imposed since snow dumping practices can have a significant impact on soil and water quality. It should also be noted that there will be annual maintenance costs associated with site maintenance and settling pond cleaning provided Council authorizes the snow dump to be constructed. This cost is estimated at $15,000 per year, detailed a report circulated to Council.

The project will have some additional benefits, said Mandzuk.

"To capitalize on economies of scale, the extension of Fourth Avenue North waterline and roadway was included into the project's scope of work. Extending Fourth Avenue will provide services for future development to the lands north of the snow dump and surrounding area," he said.

The 2013 capital budget allocated $500,000 for the construction of the snow dump. At present $39,614 has been spent on geotechnical investigation and detailed design. Therefore, $460,386 remains from the funds allocated for this project, detailed the report.

Tendered costs for the snow dump will be $339,760 for construction, $20,000 for seeding the site to grass following construction and an estimated $55,000 is required for construction engineering for a total of $444,760.

Cost for the extension of Fourth Avenue North is $288,410 plus an estimated $25,000 for construction engineering fees. This can be funded by land development and recovered via off site levies applicable to surrounding development.

Council unanimously approved R.J. Tulik Excavating Inc. be awarded the contract to construct the snow dump and complete the extension of Fourth Avenue North for the tender price of $696,328.50 ( $80,000 for construction engineering).