Council gets update on progress of 2022 and 2023 Capital Projects

By Colin Smith and Morinville Online

There is good news about the Town of Morinville’s capital infrastructure projects.

At its committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, Mar. 21 council received a capital projects update presented by Vivian Anoliefo, the town’s infrastructure projects coordinator, who described 2022 as a great construction year for the town.

Fourteen infrastructure structure projects were undertaken, of which nine have been completed and are in warranty phase. These projects came in on schedule and under budget.

Three projects are in the closing phase, and are currently under budget and expected to be completed soon. Two more projects are still ongoing with completion expected later this year, on budget.

Some of these capital projects were not approved until April 2022 because of interim budget deliberations.

Anoliefo noted in her update that tendering projects later in the year like this leads to less competition and higher prices, because many contractors already have full workloads.

It was pointed out that when projects come in under budget the remaining funds go into reserves, to be factored in during budgeting for future capital projects.

The nine projects that have been completed include the 2022 Road Rehabilitation Program, the 100 Street Trail Extension, Sidewalk Rehabilitation, the East Boundary Road Improvement Planning Project and the East Boundary Bridge Repair.

The other completed projects are the Morinville Leisure Centre Landscaping Improvements, LAV III Site Power Services, Sanitary Sewer Relining Program (year two of four) and Town Hall Flagpoles — which saw installation of two new flagpoles to allow for the flying of the Treaty Six flag and other flags.

The three projects that are in the closing phase are the Highway 642/Grandin Drive Intersection Planning Project, Engineering Standards Update, and Cardiff Road/100 Street Intersection Planning Project.

Ongoing 2022 projects are the Park Pavilion, with completion expected in late summer or early fall, and the Morinville Leisure Centre Pylon Sign, to be installed around the end of next month.

Completion delays for these projects were the result of seasonal shutdown and supply chain issues.

Anoliefo also outlined the nine infrastructure-related capital projects going ahead this year.

Among these are the Sidewalk Rehabilitation Program, MLC Trail Rehabilitation, Sanitary Sewer Relining Program (Year 3 of 4), Utility Servicing Report, Utility Infrastructure Renewal and 2023 Residential Road Rehabilitation — which will take place on 97 Avenue, 97A Avenue and 96A Street within Grandin Park.

Also underway are Municipal Building Major Repairs, Arterial Road Rehabilitation, Park Infrastructure Rehabilitation and the Town Hall Generator Design Planning Project.

The 2023 capital projects are progressing well, said Anoliefo.

Necessary permit applications for the 2023 capital projects have been submitted to Alberta Transportation and Sturgeon County and approved.

Currently the projects are currently at the procurement stage, which involves development of procurement plan, bids review, contract negotiation and ensuring the availability of materials, services, and resources to meet the project requirements.

Anoliefo stated that many of the project tenders have been published for bidding, with some closed and being reviewed while others will be closed soon.

Risks that may affect 2023 capital projects are high construction-related costs due to inflation and uncertainties about subsurface conditions, which are not always known when project costs are being estimated.

Council voted to accept the Capital Projects Update as information.