ENTERPRISE
The residential areas of Enterprise may be getting pavement this summer.
At its meeting on May 6, hamlet council discussed quotes from two companies for paving or chipsealing the streets in the community.
Allan Flamand: Concerned whether proposed pavement will survive heavy water and sewer trucks. |
Council directed hamlet administration to negotiate with Hay River's Carter Industries Ltd., which proposed paving the streets.
"I think that we're better off to go with the Carter's one and just have everything done with the paving," said Coun. Jim Dives.
"Why fool around with chipseal?"
The total price for the project was estimated at about $1.5 million, which will include road preparation, ditching, paving and quality control.
Asphalt pavement uses an oil and rock combination which is premixed in a plant and transferred to the paving location.
The chipseal process involves placing a coat of oil on a roadway and covering it with small washed rocks, which are then rolled into the oil.
Terry Testart, the senior administrative officer (SAO) with the hamlet, said a written proposed contract will be presented to council following negotiations with Carter Industries.
The company's quote for paving the streets provided a lower cost estimate than the estimate from Rowe's Construction from Hay River for chipsealing.
Testart had suggested the two companies be used, one providing some
pavement and the other some chipsealing, to spread the work around.
However, Coun. Allan Flamand wondered why some chipsealing was even
being suggested when the quote for paving the streets was lower.
"We can do them all with pavement," he said.
The hamlet has about $900,000 in gas tax funding from the federal government to pay for the project, along with $1.2 million that has been budgeted in the community's five-year plan.
Testart said the work could start this summer and be done by the fall.
Council seemed enthusiastic about the possible project, with Deputy Mayor Craig McMaster, who was participating in the meeting by telephone, calling it "kind of exciting."
The negotiations with Carter Industries will include details such as local employment and subcontracting, and using businesses in the hamlet, such as the gas station and the restaurant.
Currently, there are only a few sections of chipseal in the hamlet's commercial area, aside from Highway 1 which passes through the community.
Flamand raised concerns over whether the heavy water and sewer trucks which serve the community would damage or even destroy any pavement, while Dives said that could also include fuel trucks.
Flamand suggested the hamlet might have to consider limiting the weight of delivery trucks if the paving project goes ahead.
Testart said the weight of such trucks was taken into account by the companies that submitted quotes for the project, adding that limiting the weight of water and sewer trucks driving from Hay River would increase the cost to consumers.
The SAO also said an engineering review could be done to confirm the pavement could handle the weight of the trucks.
