Williams Lake will be insulating water service lines along South Lakeside to prevent future freezing of the lines.
Last winter there were 10 frozen lines in a three-day period and the cost to dig and thaw them was roughly $40,000 to $50,000, said Gary Muraca, the city’s director of municipal services.
At its regular meeting Tuesday, Aug. 13, city council approved a tender award to Curt Morben Contracting in the amount of $108,868, excluding GST, to insulate nine lines.
There was only one tender submitted.
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“I understand it’s a relatively small job, but to only get one bid is that a sign that everybody’s busy or is it too small of a job?” Mayor Walt Cobb asked.
Muraca said contractors are busy.
“It is a competitive bid or else we would have postponed it until next year,” Muraca said.
Coun. Ivan Bonnell, joining the meeting by phone, asked what the original estimated cost of the project.
“We had estimated around $50,000 to $60,000, but there were some unknowns there and it is coming in higher at just over $100,000 We are happy with that price because of some of the things we had overlooked and the risks the contractor has to take.”
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