Council Approves A Change Order Related To The SaskPower Project
By Robert Thomas
The new SaskPower natural gas fired electrical generating station is not just technically one of the most complex industrial projects in the history of Moose Jaw but it has also morphed into a project which affords the City the opportunity to tie in other infrastructure needs during its initial servicing.
At their Monday evening regular meeting Council was told the complexities and challenges of tying the SaskPower plant into the City’s existing infrastructure plus the opportunities to complete other necessary work at the same time.
With the City completing other infrastructure work so additional trenching is not required later to repair or replace infrastructure that is not part of the actual servicing of the Agri-Food Industrial Park (AFIP) (previously known as the South East Industrial Park). AFIP is located in the City’s southeast just north of the Sewage Treatment plant.
In layperson’s terms if trenching in the services to AFIP opens up other City owned infrastructure necessary repairs or replacement of it will take place by the contractor at the same time servicing work for the AFIP occurs.
The complex infrastructure requirements came to Council as part of request for a change order for ISL Engineering and Land Services (ISL). The change order when approved would see an additional $217,485.35 plus taxes go to ISL. The City anticipates their share would be $ 103,250.70 plus taxes with SaskPower responsible for the remining $114,234.65 plus taxes.
Funding for the City’s portion of the change order will come from budgeted amounts - Land Development Fund - but it exceeds the amount the City Manager may approve without seeking Council’s permission.
Site preparation work on Sunday at the SaskPower natural gas generator site - MJ Independent photo
“A fairly complicated issue brought to Council for approval,” city manager Jim Puffalt began as he started to outline the background behind what Administration was seeking from Council.
“Part of the issue here it is crossing a railway crossing and a river and so additional geo-tech is part of this change order,” Puffalt said.
CITY ENGINEER EXPLAINS PROJECT
City engineer Bevin Harleton provided details about the request, a request which saw multiple changes necessary to connect the City’s infrastructure to allow the servicing of water to the AFIP.
Harleton went on to relate to Council a lengthy series of changes needed to allow the water connection.
Changes which at times seemed to be from Willie E. Coyote’s infamous pursuit of the Roadrunner with the numerous twists and turns down a maze of piping but in this case nevertheless make financial and engineering sense for the City given existing infrastructure.
SaskPower is presently constructing a 350 megawatt natural gas fired electrical generation plant in the AFIP.
Work with ISL is broken into two parts - (Task One) the feeder main to the AFIP and (Task Two) the City of Moose Jaw’s infrastructure which can be addressed while servicing the AFIP and the SaskPower site.
The construction side to service the AFIP and the SaskPower site is a 70 percent and 30 percent split with SaskPower paying the 70 percent amount.
Task One will include:
tying into the recently completed East Feeder Main at the intersection of Fairford Avenue East and Third Avenue NE
then running east for eight blocks to 8th Avenue NE then turning south
then under the Moose Jaw River and coming up and crossing CP Rail through a method called pipe jack
running down Lorne Street SE to Coteau Street East.
East on Coteau St to connect to work done in 2019 at Coteau St E and 9th Avenue SE
as well as 500 metres of water and sanitary sewer work to the actual SaskPower site
Task One has been divided into two contracts with greenfield work - installation of 150 meters of storm sewer and 500 meters of water and sanitary sewer work completed in 2020 with the remainder of the work to be completed in 2021.
Completing the greenfield work in 2020 allowed the City to make use of grant money from senior level of governments.
To complete the two crossings on CN Rail and CP Rail property there are legislatively required options for monitoring that cannot be negotiated and must be monitored as per legislation and applicable regulations.
The City’s portion under Task Two will include the replacement of two blocks of cast iron water mains on Fairford Street East from 3rd Avenue NE to 5th Avenue NE. Additionally there was an assessment of the storm and sanitary sewer system on Faiford Street East where the water main was being run.
As part of their assessment ISL has recommended the replacement of the sanitary sewer main and lining of the storm sewer man along the effected portions of Fairford Street East.
The project will now include 290 metres of cast iron water main replacement with the potential of 20 service connections, 290 metres of sanitary sewer replacement on Fairford Street East and an additional 70 metres to be pipe jacked at the CN Rail bridge between 3rd and 4th Avenues NE with 175 metres of storm sewers to be lined and the replacement of 35 metres of storm sewers. Plus seven manholes will be replaced on Fairford.
The project will also include full road restoration on the portions of Fairford Street East between 3rd and 5th Avenues NE.
“If we look at the total construction costs in 2020 and 2021 it is anticipated to be $7.5 or $8 milion dollars. That is roughly for three kilometres of feeder mains installed and the previously mentioned” sanitary sewer and cast iron water main replacements plus the storm sewer re-lining, Harland said.
The change order will raised ISL’s fees to about $600,000 or eight percent of the entire project - a portion of which is paid by the City.
Cost to the City is approximately $1.2 million and ISL fees of $280,000 plus taxes the remainder of the costs are borne by SaskPower, Harlton said.
The video below shows SaskPower’s contractor doing site preparation work this past Sunday.
COUNCIL DISCUSSION
Councillor Heather Eby asked for clarification if there is an additional funding request outside the budget.
“No funding request here we are brought here as per section 5.6 of the purchasing policy and beyond the City’ Managers authority to approve this,” Harlton responded.
“I think it is important to note that this doesn’t require additional funding. I think it also important to reiterate that to not allow this would not allow for construction completion as per our infrastructure and service agreement between the City of Moose Jaw and SaskPower. This is required,” acting Mayor Councillor Heather Eby said.
Acting Mayor Councillor Eby said the entire project was extremely complex and she was grateful to “have someone at the helm on how to handle all of this and I will be absolutely in favour of this and we are getting stuff done.”
Councillor Dawn Luhning asked for a Coles’ Notes version for the public.
Coles Notes are notes on academic subjects which break complex issues, books and other matters into smaller more condense and easier to understand point form.
“We are going up Faiford as part of the program and with that is there is infrastructure we have to be aware of. As we come through there, as you know if we are going into an area we do absolutely everything because we don’t want to come back. That is part of the complexity of this one,” Puffalt said.
In an unanimous vote of 6 - 0 with Councillor Jamie Logan appearing by an on-line connection due to illness and Mayor Fraser Tolmie absent due to an unspecified urgent family matter the change order was approved.