Whitehorse council approves water main budget increase
Changing plans for a Porter Creek water main project will cost the city an additional $200,000 beyond the $950,000 it originally planned to spend.
Whitehorse city council approved the budget change at its July 22 meeting and awarded the contract for the work to Norcope Enterprises Ltd. with the additional funds to come from the city’s gas tax funding.
The original plan was to put in a new water main connection north along Birch Street connecting with the supply line into Crestview and the Brookside development just off the Alaska Highway before Crestview.
“During detailed design it was determined that a different design would serve better,” city engineer Taylor Eshpeter said in a report to council, adding the updated plan will see the new main installed at Kulan Industrial Park along Bennett Road and Laberge Road, then connecting with Crestview and Brookside.
“This revised water supply alignment not only meets the fire supply demands required for the Brookside development, but also improves the fire supply demands for a portion of the Kulan subdivision along Bennett Road, then Laberge Road East,” he said.
“The new main will provide an additional water supply connection to the rest of Porter Creek, and an opportunity for water services to be installed at existing Kulan properties if the property owners wish to pursue that option.”
The plans have gone through the Yukon Environmental Socio-economic Assessment Board process and been approved by the Yukon government.
Landfill expansion gets the green light
In an effort to better separate waste coming into the landfill, on July 22 Whitehorse city council awarded Cobalt Construction a $355,562 contract to ready new areas in the southern part of the landfill for waste.
“As the south end (of the landfill) has not been developed, divertible and separated materials such as scrap metal are being stored immediately south of the current land filling area,” Geoff Quinsey, manager of water and waste services, told council in an earlier report.
“There are now conflicting piles of materials including scrap metals, concrete, old tires, stored telephone poles, grubbing, and partially-buried piles of waste from the original development of the (landfill).”
New deposit areas will be created with the work to include realignment of the access road to the south end, upgrades to the special waste area; clearing of the sites; and creating the stockpile areas for concrete, metals, grubbing and diverted materials..
Budgeted at $300,000 originally, officials said the additional funds for the work will come from the capital reserve, which would be reimbursed if the Yukon government approves the city’s application for a fund increase through gas tax funding.
Arena set to get new boards
Takhini Arena will get new dasher boards after council voted July 22 to award the $123,000 contract to Global Sport Resources Ltd.
The project will see the height of the tempered glass of the arena rise from three feet to six feet along with a complete replacement of the kick and puck boards.
This will mark the first time the dasher boards have been fully replaced at the arena since it opened in 1984.
Whitehorse council awards water monitoring contract
Whitehorse city council voted July 22 to award Golder Associates the $135,823 contract to collect samples and monitor the city’s water supply until the end of December 2020.
Geoff Quinsey, the city’s manager of water and waste services, explained in a previous report to council the city is in the process of getting a new water 25-year water license. While that is being done, a short-term 18-month contract is required for the collection and monitoring of water samples.
Golder had the lowest of three bids at $48,414 for the remainder of 2019 and $87,409 for all of 2020.
