It has been a project that has been brought to council twice before and now will go forward this year.
However, not everyone is happy about the paving of 14th Street from 3rd Avenue to 1st Avenue South.
As it stands, the paving of 14th Street is going forward and will be paid for by the residents since it is one of the few streets that still falls under the Local Improvement Act, 1993 since asphalt costs were not included in the development costs of the lots at the time, says Director of Public Works, Peter Bergquist.
From 14th Street and 3rd Avenue to 14th Street and 1st Avenue North, residents will be paying more compared to residents on 14th Street and 1st Avenue North to 14th Street and 1st Avenue South because the paving of their section would also include base work which was not done when the road was being developed.
The estimated cost right now would be $347.54 per front meter for those living from 3rd Avenue to 1st Avenue North and $218.40 for those living from 1st Avenue North to 1st Avenue South.
Around a dozen residents living on 14th Street attended the council meeting with Kevin Hood and Jim Moore speaking separately on behalf of residents.
Hood stated that this difference in cost is unfair to residents since the residents themselves had no say in the work done by the developer back when it was built or done to it since.
“The current condition of the section from 3rd Ave. to 1st Ave. North is not something we have had input on or a responsibility for and now we are being charged more to undo what has been done over the years,” stated Hood in a letter to council which he also read out during the meeting.
Hood said after the meeting that he and his neighbours still have more questions for council, which will be compiled and brought to city hall at a later date.
Moore has lived on 14th Street for the last 30 years and plans on living there forever, he hopes.
Moore spoke in favour of the project going forward saying he and his fellow residents are having to deal with dust issues both affecting their air quality and state of their properties. Paving of this street will improve the curb appeal, he says, with an unpaved road being a deterrent from people moving onto 14th Street.
“I know when we end up putting asphalt down...it would bring a positive value to that area.”
While cost is an issue, Moore says that there is no better time to do this than the present.
“It needs to get done and I think now is the time,” says Moore.
Including the base construction costs as part of a local improvement project is not new, says City Clerk Sandra Pauli.
Mayor Rob Muench recalls the same was done for residents of Water Ridge Crescent.
A handful of residents opposed to the project did bring a petition to council trying to stop it back in May, which was addressed by Pauli during the meeting.
According to the Local Improvements Act, 1993, the 14th Street paving project affected 63 owners with an assessed value of $429,902.28. For the petition to succeed, it needed the signatures of 32 owners whose assessed value was at least $214,951.14.
Pauli reported that 23 owners signed the petition with assessed value of $182,426.90, therefore the petition was not valid.
If the petition had succeeded or if the council would have wanted to change the scope of the project, the project would have to have had to go back to square one, says Pauli.
“We would have to start over and it would be unlikely, in my opinion, that the project would be able to proceed this year if we had to go back to the table,” stated Pauli during the meeting.
Later in the meeting, councillors voted unanimously for the project to go forward at the cost to residents with no current changes to the estimated costs. Residents will be paying for their base work.
Tenders were also awarded at the meeting to Trinity Excavating from Saskatoon for the gravel contract, United Paving out of Swift Current for the asphalt, Westcrete Curb and Landscaping out of Humboldt, and Engineering Pipe Group out of Saskatoon for the purchase of the geotextile material.
Pauli says that after the work is completed, residents will be given a final total of what they will be paying for the complete roadwork project.
