ESTEVAN - While work continues on the downtown revitalization project in the 1100 and 1200 blocks of Fourth Street in Estevan in the final weeks of the construction season, the Concerned Citizens Estevan SK group continues to have questions about the project.
The group appeared before Estevan city council Monday night, with Myles Fichter and Milton Vicary addressing council and several other members in the gallery. It was the first time they spoke to council at an opening meeting since early April.
Fichter pointed out the Concerned Citizens presented a petition to council on April 9 with 1,491 signatures from people who wanted to have a referendum on the downtown project. The city deemed the petition insufficient on May 8, citing a number of reasons for disqualifying 485 signatures and bringing it below the 1,085 threshold required to trigger a referendum.
The Concerned Citizens filed a court action to defend the petition, and Fichter said the case was heard on June 25. He noted 273 signatures were discarded by the city for illegible dates, and the judge, in his decision, said there were certain strict practices applied on the dates that shouldn't have occurred.
"In the end, the judge concluded the issue moot and then dismissed the case," said Fichter.
The judge pointed out the project was well underway at the time the argument was presented, but Fichter added the judge denied the city's request to be reimbursed $4,000 in legal fees.
The group wanted to know the costs to date, the planned costs for the fiscal year and the future expenses. Fichter noted there would be site furniture, light poles, top-lift asphalt and line painting in 2025. The federal funding has to be spent by March 31, 2025.
City manager Jeff Ward replied the estimates from the initial design phase were $8.3 million. Once initial design engineering was completed, it was determined the project would be around $9.8 million. At that point, a revision to the existing PrairiesCan grant was submitted, and increased funding was approved. The City received $8.5 million from PrairiesCan and the city provided $1.5 million.
The design phase tender was awarded to ASL Paving for $7.8 million, with the expectation that site furnishings and electrical would be $2.2 million; those expenses came in over budget at $4.2 million.
"At that point, there was a discussion with council to reduce the scope of the project to be fiscally responsible, and $1.3 million in removals were put into place," said Ward.
Other expenses were completely removed, such as banner lighting on street poles, while the traffic lights at the intersection of Fourth Street and 12th Avenue were replaced with a four-way stop. That brought the project down to $10.7 million. City council has approved an additional $500,000 to be borrowed for this year.
Ward also noted that $750,000 in engineering was not covered, and it was recommended by council to apply for the Canadian Community-Building Fund for the 2025 year.
Some expenses, such as light posts and paving stones are part of the tender requirements.
"We have worked with PrairiesCan that all funds for the contractors will be submitted and paid by March 31, and that the city's contribution of $1.5 million could be applied to that project after the fact for any additional costs," Ward said.
The Concerned Citizens also had questions about the diversity, equity and inclusion program passed by council recently. The Mercury and SaskToday will have more on this story later.
The meeting was the last scheduled one for council prior to the Nov. 13 civic election.
