Work to complete landscaping north of the Sundre Seniors' Supportive Living facility has recently been underway.
Council approved the project, which includes a new walking path and trees, during its last official meeting before the summer break on June 26, following a presentation by municipal planner Denica Crosbie.
Elected officials had last November carried a motion to budget $220,000 for the project, which is located on municipal reserve land along the northern edge of the Mountain View Seniors' Housing development, she said.
"This is known as the Sixth Avenue Linear Pathway Project."
The development was in May of this year posted and advertised for a two-week period, but no tenders were received, she said.
"In discussing what our next steps should be, we attempted to reach out to a local contractor, a contractor from Cochrane and two contractors from Calgary."
Tenders were then resubmitted by a close date of June 16, she said.
"Our landscape architect LA West received three bids. However, all three tenders exceeded council's approved $220,000, ranging in an overage from $22,000 to $95,000."
The planning department was seeking direction for the project's next steps, and Crosbie suggested council might consider increasing the amount budgeted for the development, or alternatively to perhaps ask staff to review the project's design plan to cut those costs to stay within the previously approved $220,000.
"Administration hoped that this project would be well underway by now. But timing has been pushed back and no tenders were received during the original post of the project in May," she said.
"In order to meet the construction timelines and have the work completed before fall, we would need to award a contract soon."
A third potential option was to postpone the project until 2018, "at which time the linear pathway project could be combined with the landscaping on Centre Street North," she said.
Coun. Cheri Funke said that seeing as funds were allocated to a reserve specifically for this project, she was in favour of making a motion for the Town of Sundre to approve the tender from Wilco Contractors Southwest Inc in the amount of almost $283,000, with the funds coming out of the Mountain View Seniors' Housing Deferred Revenue.
The motion was carried unanimously with further direction from council for administration to if at all possible find ways to reduce the overall cost of the project.
