SOURIS - Council has awarded a tender for about $3.3 million to upgrade the town's wastewater treatment plant.
The decision was made during a special Souris council meeting at town hall on Sept. 23. About 75 per cent of the project will be funded be the provincial and the federal Investing in Canada Infrastructure program, with the remaining $880,000 coming from the town's operating budget.
Shelley LaVie, the town's chief administrative officer, said the current treatment plant is at its capacity and the upgrades will be made at the same location on Breakwater Street.
"We were pretty pleased with the fact that we did get three bids on it," LaVie said.
The tender was awarded to Pomerleau Inc., which was recommended to Souris council by CBCL Ltd. simply because it was the lowest bid and it met all the necessary criteria. The other two bids ranged from $3.5 to $3.7 million.
Pomerleau hopes to start work on the project this fall, but nothing has been set in stone. Once started, the contracting company plans to have it completed within 455 days, LaVie said.
"We knew it would be a lengthy project."
Councillors didn't have much discussion on the topic before deciding to approve the tender. While the tender is under budget, engineering and project management costs will still have to be sourced by the town.
"So, we're going to have to pay additional money," Mayor JoAnne Dunphy said.
Daniel Brown is a local journalism initiative reporter, a position funded by the federal government. Twitter.com/dnlbrown95