INNISFAIL – The Town of Innisfail has approved the final major construction contract for the multi-million development of the new 46-acre Southwest (SW) Industrial Park.
At town council’s regular meeting on July 10, Steven Kennedy, director of operations for the Town of Innisfail, presented a report to council with a recommended motion to award a $970,790.75 contract to Davidson Powerline Construction for the park’s shallow utility servicing.
The motion was passed unanimously.
The contract awarded to Davidson, the lowest of four bids, does not include GST or contingency.
Kennedy told council the construction cost is over the estimated amount of $770,000, which he said was due to the upgrade of the power cabling as recommended by FortisAlberta to accommodate larger power consumption users.
He told council the existing industrial park was designed with standard industrial servicing but the current trend in the industry is a need for additional higher power consumption.
“We thought it would be proactive for us to be able to offer this for the subdivision to have a higher consumption available, just as a proactive way of encouraging lot sales,” said Kennedy, adding the town will still be able to afford the additional cost.
“The previous contracts for the underground servicing and surface works both came in under the estimated cost by $518,498; so this additional cost can be offset.”
Kennedy said the shallow utilities contract covers the installation of conduits and cables for the power to service lots and streetlights, as well as conduits for utilities, such as TELUS and ATCO Gas.
In his report to council, Kennedy said the contractor indicated work can begin by early October with most of it completed by the end of 2023 in December.
Kennedy added there will be “some carryover” into 2024 as there are back orders for street lights.
“They'll be back in again next spring to potentially finish the streetlight installation,” said Kennedy.
With this final major contract, Kennedy said the town will have committed $4.94 million toward the development and servicing of the industrial park, which has a budget of $5.5 million.
“This is the last big one,” said Kennedy, following his presentation to council on July 10.
That expense, which initially will be covered by the town’s Land Acquisition/Servicing Reserve, will ultimately be paid off by a loan made possible for the town through the SW Industrial Park Borrowing Bylaw, which was created and approved by council on June 27, 2022.
Erica Vickers, the town’s director of corporate services, said she expects the loan will be ready to service the debt within the next two months.
As well, the town will also use $670,400 from last year’s sale of 4.19 acres from the park to the Innisfail Seed Cleaning Plant.
In the meantime, Vickers said the town is town is still looking at different options to secure a multi-million dollar loan.
“We do have the standard lender that all municipalities can go to through the Government of Alberta but we are looking at different options with the interest rates and where they're at right now,” said Vickers. “We are making sure we're getting the best option for the town.”
