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Thursday, May 7, 2020
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Battleford lagoon cost balloons by $2 million
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Winning bid at $7.38M By John Cairns Staff Reporter
Battleford awarded the tender for its wastewater lagoon project at their town council meeting Monday, but the final cost was a bitter pill to swallow. The winning bid from Sanburn Construction Ltd. of Battleford for the lagoon enlargement, de-sludging and upgrade came in at $7.38 million, which was some $2 million above and
Sports
Hall of Fame list released Page 10
News Plans for paving Page 3
Isolation
Together forever, but 24-7?
Page 5
beyond what the town had budgeted. The town had put in an estimate of $5.265 million in its application for grant funding that was ultimately successful in 2019. The federal government will contribute $2.1 million and the province $1.7 to the lagoon project, and it was thought the town would be in for the remaining $1.4 million. Instead, the town will be on the hook for an additional $2 million on top of that. Town Chief Administrative Officer John Enns-Wind tried to make sense of what had happened at council Monday. Enns-Wind told council that the town had applied for federal funding in the grant intake in 2014, and then had applied in another intake in 2017. “My recollection is that started I think the end of November, beginning of December and then the intake closed in January, so it was very rushed,” he said. Then the government did another intake and Enns-Wind said they had shared with municipalities that if they had al-
ready submitted an application form, to just keep it and they would review it. “So that’s what happened,” said Enns-Wind. He also phoned to find out what was happening with the estimates, and learned that “the common trend is that almost all the bids are coming in above the budget, above the estimates. So we’re not the only ones, but it still hurts.” There were also some items missing in their 2017 application, including the lift station as well as how much the rocks would cost. There is also another $210,000 for desludging, and engineering fees were not included in the original grant because it was ineligible for funding. Despite the cost, council voted to go ahead with awarding the tender to Sanburn Construction. As for how to pay for an additional $2,033,000, town council voted to fund that amount through an internal loan from its own general fund, and have the town selffinance the borrowing by Continued on Page 3
This beaver keeps an eye on a photographer as it goes about its work near Turtleford. Photo by Louise Lundberg
Health care services resumption plan to begin May 19 By John Cairns Staff Reporter
The Saskatchewan Health Authority’s phased resumption of health care services is targeted to begin on May 19, on the same day that Phase Two of Re-Open Saskatchewan is scheduled to roll out. The SHA laid out their four-phase plan at a news conference in Regina Tuesday. The plan was described by officials as “centrally
developed” and “locally delivered.” Implementation will depend on their ability to successfully limit the spread of COVID-19, depending on such factors as outbreaks, capacity, ability to adhere to public health orders and the careful consideration of timing between phases. Phases are outlined as follows: Phase one starting on May 19 consists of resumption of some everyday health services, expansion
of surgeries and diagnostic imaging. These include surgical services, diagnostic imaging, more everyday services such as a primary care clinics, routine immunizations, public health nursing and expanded public health inspections, mental health services, and gradual re-introduction of services like home care, kidney health, rehabilitation and therapy programs. Phase Two focuses on resumption of specialty Continued on Page 2
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Kindergarten Registrations & Pre-K Applications for the 2020-21 school year.
For more information, contact your local school or call 306-937-7702 www.lskysd.ca