Free Press Crowsnest Pass
the
Th ur s da y, Feb r u a r y 13, 2014
Serving the Crowsnest Pass area
(ages 2-5)
Only $50
for a half day lesson from 1:30pm
Merlin Lewis General Manager Sales Manager
George Wolstenholme
Jillian Foster Finance Manager
835 Waterton Ave., Pincher Creek
888-667-8036 • www.castleford.ca Vol. 1 Issue 15
FREE
By Joni MacFarlane Editor
Castle Mountain Resort T: 403-627-5101 F: 403-627-3515 www.skicastle.ca www.powderstagecoach.ca
Complete & professional insurance services 403-562-8822 1-800-361-8658 12731-20th Ave., Blairmore, AB Fax 403-562-8239 www.crowsnestinsurance.com info@crowsnestinsurance.com
Gallery of Sight and Sound Your Telus Store with More 12701 20 Avenue Blairmore, AB
“Live Your Dream”
CFP,CLU,EPC 403-753-0020 Blairmore, AB
Top dollar paid for good, clean trades!
Demolition costs rise
Looking for your little one to learn to ski/snowboard
ry Time, Guaranteed Patrick B Sager
We deal the small town friendly way.
Horace Allen student Kenna Lewis rocks the Jump Rope for Heart on Feb. 7, an initiative encouraging kids to get active while they collect pledges for heart disease and stroke research. Horace Allen School raised over $5,570 to be donated to the Heart And Stroke Foundation of Canada. Photo by J. MacFarlane
r e FREE 19’’ TV h c n i P Creek
New information emerged last week over increased costs from asbestos found at the former Crowsnest Centre. As council probed further into the clean up of the site, details came to light that council members had been unaware of. Frank Besinger, director of planning, engineering and operations, told council on Feb. 4 that Dakota Reclamators Ltd. would return towards the end of March to clean up the site. They also offered to take existing piles of construction materials such as broken concrete and brick to fill excavation holes at no charge, Besinger added. Clean up of the site has been discussed several times over the past few months. In January Besinger assured council the site would not be backfilled until the municipality knew what further development looked like. He’d also said earlier that about 10 per cent of the funds have been held back from the contractor until the work was complete. If the contractor doesn’t return, he added, the remaining funds would be more than enough to hire someone else to finish the work. In August 2013, Calgary-based Dakota Reclamators was the successful bidder for the project in the amount of $585,314 (excluding GST). Their bid for backfill was $172,991 but this was not approved because administration deemed the cost too high. Besinger said the closing date on the contract was Dec. 31, 2013 but it had been extended by mutual agreement. Initially, the contract was to haul the debris away, said Besinger, but the contract was re-negotiated to deal with additional asbestos. This wasn’t found in the initial environmental assessment done four or five years ago, said Besinger, or during one done about a year ago. However, asbestos in the subfloor of the newer wing was found by Dakota’s on-site environmental monitor during demolition. “Did they not know there were subfloors there?” asked Councillor Doreen Glavin. “I mean we own the building.” This additional asbestos added another $154,000 to Dakota’s costs, Besinger said. An agreement was reached to reduce this total by not having Dakota haul material away. “There was additional monies required to deal with that asbestos that didn’t come out in the original environmental assessment,” said Besinger. “We thought it was in our best interest to take that material and use it as fill material in lieu of paying them cash.” Further negotiations with Dakota reduced the monies owing to $54,000 bringing the total cost to $668,580 including GST. Cont. on page 2...
with the purchase of $1299 or more on furniture or mattress sets.
valid at pincher creek location only. limited quantities. see store for details. david tetachuk Owner
Roberta koci sales associate
cheri Bobyk sales associate
Open 7 days a week • 403-627-3717 • Ranchland Mall • yOuR lOcally Owned advantage