A million dollar project aimed at improving the capacity of the first of three sanitary sewage lagoon cells in Rosthern has been temporarily put on hold due to escalating costs.
In the meantime, repairs have been made to the existing facility to keep it operating, according to Rosthern Mayor Dennis Helmuth.
“We are doing quite a bit of work on our lagoon system,” said Helmuth in an interview January 19. “We had hoped to do a substantial amount of improvements on the first cell of three cells, and we tendered that out last year.
“But when we got the tenders back, we had to pull back a bit, because the bids were well above what we had anticipated.”
Helmuth said the original engineering estimate had placed the cost of the upgrade at about $700,000. The town tendered the project but received only one bid, and that was for about $400,000 more than the original estimate.
“The reality is there is a lot of big projects out there, and contractors are up to their eyeballs in work right now,” said Helmuth. “In addition, prices have gone up fro a variety of reasons, and that’s reflected in the bids they’re submitting.”
Helmuth said the significantly higher cost of the project prompted Rosthern town council to decide in favour of interim measures designed to keep the lagoon cell operational for a few more years.
“We will still need to deal with that inevitable upgrade,” said Helmuth. “The equipment is 50 or 60 years old, but we’re still able to keep it running.”
He noted the town is also looking to replace its 55-year-old water treatment plant.
“That one will be a large commitment,” said Helmuth. “We’ll be applying for funds from senior levels of government under the federal-provincial infrastructure program. It will be at least $10 million, and even if the municipality pays one-third of that, it’s still a $3 million bill, which is a lot for a town our size.”
Helmuth said the fundraising campaign for the new Saskatchewan Valley Hospital is ongoing, both through donations and through the municipal levy.
He said the town has already committed a considerable amount of resources to the project through allocating land and servicing for the site of the proposed new hospital.
“The encouraging thing is that we have ten doctors employed here in town at the medical clinic,” said Helmuth. “That piece of the puzzle is in place. A lot of younger physicians would be able to pursue their profession in a hospital setting.”
He said tertiary hospitals in smaller communities like Rosthern have been shown to be important in taking the load off larger hospitals in cities like Saskatoon. Rosthern and surrounding communities are continuing to lobby the province for the new hospital.
Helmuth said the business sector in Rosthern is healthy, with several new shops opening up.
“The downtown is humming pretty good,” he said. “A new shop opened up on Main Street that features outdoor camping equipment and clothing. The owners are a young couple that are new Canadians. They purchased what was the former bakery; they gutted it completely and rebuilt it inside and out. It’s absolutely gorgeous and they have everything set up really nice.
“Initiatives like that are really encouraging development,, and we’re seeing other investors coming to Main Street.”