Woodworth Dam project moving ahead
Council directed city staff to enter into a contract with Eiffage Canada Inc. for the development of the Woodworth Dam replacement project.
Robert Long, city manager for the City of Prince Rupert, made the recommendation. Eiffage was one of three companies that placed a bid for the project. The company’s $16,534,550.25 bid was cheaper than Golder/Canadian Hydrotech Corp & Jim Dent Construction’s bid of $16,550,000.00 and Pennecon’s bid of $33,421,245.00.
“Even if we wanted to I don’t think we an afford a 33 million dollar dam,” said councillor Wade Niesh during discussion. “The reality is this is not a tourist destination like the Hoover Dam. We just need to make it simple and make it work and do all the things that we need it to do which is hold water.”
Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain said he was happy to see the project move ahead to its next phase of decommission the old dam and rebuild the new dam.
“We’ve got the road up to the dam built, we’ve got the lines being replaced,” Brain said. “It’s a good win for all the staff, I know it’s been a lot of work and I want to commend them for the hard work they’ve been doing on this.”
The motion to enter into the contract with Eiffage was approved unanimously.
RELATED: $7.1 million in grant funds awarded to Rupert water project
Emergency preparedness grant funding approved
A grant application to UBCM’s Community Emergency Preparedness Fund for $11,000 was approved by the City of Prince Rupert at its the Oct. 22 council meeting.
David Geronazzo, director of recreation and community services for the City of Prince Rupert, made the request and said the grant funding is needed to help develop Prince Rupert’s emergency social services (ESS) program.
“That money will be used to fund the continued growth of the Prince Rupert emergency social services team through volunteer recruitment and retention, training, and increased deployment capacity,” Geronazzo said.
The Jim Ciccone Civic Centre was used as an emergency intake centre over the summer for evacuees from the wildfires. Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain said the grant money from the emergency preparedness fund could be used to increase that capacity and other programs related to emergencies.
The motion to approve the application passed unanimously.
RELATED: Testing, testing: Prince Rupert to try new emergency app
matthew.allen@thenorthernview.com
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