Estevan city council has tabled a decision on repairs for Kensington Avenue from King Street to the northern city limits.
Council received a document on the project from city engineer Kiflom Weldeab at Monday night’s meeting. After several minutes of discussion, they decided to delay a final decision until their meeting on April 11.
Souris Valley Paving was awarded a tender for $614,970 to resurface Kensington Avenue from an area north of King Street to the north entrance of the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS).
They will also repair the gravel portion of Kensington from the north ECS entrance to city’s northern limits. Two culverts are expected to be installed as part of the project.
The road will also be stronger with an eight-inch lift of clay and an eight-inch lift of grandular, so that it can withstand the rigors of the heavy truck traffic that passes down the road every day.
The Provincial Disaster Assistance Program will fund the repairs north of ECS, as it needs to be done due to damage the road suffered during floods five years ago.
Councillor Greg Hoffort suggested tabling the project, citing some concerns he has received from the public about Kensington Avenue north of the school. Hoffort called it “a challenging road for the past 20 years.”
He also wanted to receive a breakdown on the costs associated with the repairs to Kensington Avenue.
“If I’m the only one who has concerns, it’s perhaps because I’ve driven the road many times through the last 10, 15 or 20 years, when you couldn’t even drive down it,” he said, referring to when he was the administrator for the Rural Municipality of Estevan.
Councillor Brian Johnson countered that council now has all the information they need to award the project. Johnson said he initially shared some of Hoffort’s concerns about the project, but those were alleviated after he spent at least 30 minutes talking to Weldeab about the repairs.
“I don’t see why we need to wait,” said Johnson. “Can you explain it?”
Hoffort replied that he needed a little more clarification. If there isn’t a rush to begin, then he believes the two-week delay would allow council to make a better decision.
But if council was opposed to tabling, then Hoffort conceded he would be fine with the decision. Ultimately, council opted to wait on making a final decision.
“I don’t think it would be the end of the world if we did allow Councillor Hoffort some more research, and then pass this during the next meeting,” said Mayor Roy Ludwig.
The project is expected to begin on June 20 and be completed by July 7, which would be more than two weeks before the start of the Saskatchewan Summer Games.
Council decided they wanted to do the project this year because ECS will be a hub of activity for the Games, which run from July 24 to 30. The school will serve as the athletes’ village and serve in a number of other roles.
