Estevan city council has awarded a tender that affects one of the landmark buildings in the community.
The KGS Group was awarded a $74,964 tender for consulting services to oversee a refurbishment of the Estevan water tower during council’s meeting on Dec. 14.
In a report to council, Shane Bucsis, the manager of water and wastewater services, said the water tower, which was built in the mid to late 1950s, is in need of repair.
During that time, it has served as the main water storage, but as the city has grown, other reservoirs have been brought online to be used.
The tower is beginning to show heavy fatigue, and rehabilitation is required, Bucsis said.
“The water tower is the best back-up storage system the city can have,” said Bucsis. “In the event of a power outage the water is already in the tower and it can provide water pressure to the city, eliminating the city from issuing a boil water advisory.”
A consultant was hired to do an assessment on the water tower. Among the major findings of the report is the water tower is still structurally sound and most of the metal is in good condition.
There are some spots on the bottom bowl where the metal needs to be thickened; the piping for the tower is in poor condition and needs to be replaced; hatches are not the proper size; the outside needs to be repainted and bird deterrents need to be installed; the inside needs to be recoated and cathodic protection needs to be added to reduce long-term ware on the metal; and walkways need to be replaced.
With the specialized work that needs to be done, a consultant needs to be hired to oversee the work, prepare tender package and do site visits to ensure the work is meeting regulations.
The tender is broken down into to two parts. The first is by pricing. The second is by a point system that Bucsis and city engineer Kiflom Weldeab completed.
They are based on specialist availability, experience with this type of proposal, timelines and price.
WSP also submitted a bid for the project, and it was lower at $38,000, compared to $74,964 for KGS, but KGS scored better. Weldeab had it at 81-62 and Bucsis scored it at 86-63 for KGS.
WSP has never done a rehabilitation of a water tower before, Bucsis said, while KGS completed work on North Battleford’s tower, which Bucsis said is similar to Estevan.
Council has been talking about the rehabilitation of the water tower since 2017. The city has a separate bank account, outside of the general fund, that has money from the federal gas tax, and it can only be spent on approved projects. The water tower would be among the projects.
“It’s something that we really are looking forward to, because once we get it refurbished, with the cathodic protection, we feel … it should be good for many, many years,” said Ludwig.
Now that the water intake project, which shifted the city’s primary water source from Boundary Dam to Rafferty Dam, is complete, the city can focus on smaller projects such as the water tower rehabilitation. Ludwig is confident the work can happen next year.
“It’s hard to predict in a year of COVID. We’re hoping that things will get better in 2021. We’re hoping that we will turn the corner, and we’re hoping that a lot of these projects, especially the smaller ones, will come to fruition and be finished.”
The quotation marks around Estevan should remain on the water tower once the renovations are finished, the mayor said.
Bucsis said he was concerned about the stand pipes holding up the water tower, but those are in excellent condition. He is confident it should be standing for another 30-60 years.
