City digs deep on 22nd Street paving project
By Timothy Schafer
The city will be looking to include the costs of the paving of 22nd Street in its capital budget, but the depth of the project is still not known.
City council accepted a report from city staff at its November 7 meeting on the state of the roadway and has opted for a full-on reconstruction of ailing 22nd Street, costing in the neighbourhood of $650,000.
Since the summer the city has been reviewing the requirements for upgrading the pavement of 22nd Street, from Highway 3 to 78th Avenue, with an eye to including the project in the 2016 capital expenditures budget.
The intent was project would supplant the costlier multi-utility project which includes full-depth road reconstruction, widening for bike lanes and utility replacements.
In September a city staff report on the project — based on engineering reports — was received by council and given early budget approval for paving 22nd Street, making it a priority project for 2017.
However, “conditions” at several locations that had not previously been identified in engineering reports was discovered by public works staff after they began repairing and investigating water and sewer services in preparation for paving in 2017.
As well, the sewer main along 22nd Street between 77th and 78th avenues needed to be replaced so the section was removed from the project scope. It will become another future project on its own.
All of the new information city staff found was presented to Urban Systems and an updated cost estimate was calculated.
Full-depth reconstruction had been pegged at $650,000, while leveling base and paving was to cost around $520,000. An overlay of pavement was pegged with a $330,000 price tag.
The Urban Systems report recommended full road construction to eliminate any sub base concerns on the road, replacing the materials.
“If the city is already accepting the risk of a reduced structure why spend additional resources to achieve improvements which may only be marginal?” read the report from Urban Systems.
Wetlands now protected lands
The City of Grand Forks has finally added Johnson Flats Wetland Nature Park to its greenspace inventory.
Council has given final reading an adoption to the bylaw that makes the wetland area a protected natural area, after it voted to create the bylaw at its Nov. 7 regular council meeting.
The area was first came on the radar when city council moved to designate the area as a protected natural area through the Sustainable Community Plan (SCP) and zoning bylaw amendments.
As a result, the city began a five-year update of the SCP which would contain the planning needed, and options for natural protection and dedication for high priority areas in advance of zoning and SCP amendments.
It was found that dedication of the wetland through a bylaw as a park — with the intended use as an ecological reserve — would provide immediate protection of the land.
A park dedication bylaw provides greater protection than a rezoning bylaw because council can only remove the dedication by bylaw with the approval of the electors.
The process for the Johnson Flats began on May 9. It was eventually found that three additional and city-owned parcels were within the wetland area and city staff recommended that the lands be included in the protected area.
The parcels were designated agricultural/rural in the SCP and are located in the 200-year floodplain. Ecological reserves can occur in any land use zone.
The park must still pass third and fourth reading before adoption. The adoption of a park dedication must be by an affirmative vote of at least two thirds of all members of council.
