Nanaimo council met on Wednesday, September 2nd to vote on the Colliery Dams contract to Copcan Civil Ltd. for the construction of an auxiliary spillway at the Lower Colliery Dam.

Nanaimo council voted in favour of the above motion with no changes. Councillors Bestwick, Brennan, Pratt and Thorpe and Mayor McKay voted in favour. Councillors Kipp, Fuller and Hong voted against. Councillor Yoachim was absent.

The following are highlights from the meeting:

Two delegations spoke:

Delegation 1: …why do we have 9 or 10 law enforcement officers present for this council meeting today? …we have over 100 day time break and enters … Has the city ever entered into any cost plus contracts?

Mayor: you can’t ask questions … get on with it…

Delegation 1: …there are a lot of things still up in the air…only 30% of drawings have been completed… we don’t have enough details…in order to award the contract today… we need more details…this is an open ended cheque book…

Delegation 2: I regret the money this is costing taxpayers…we risk losing our water rights…we should be focused on unemployment…I worked for Ontario Hydro…a sealed tender doesn’t guarantee anything.

Discussion followed:

Bestwick: as we all know and understand…this council unanimously voted to repair the spillway…the award of this contract is a cost plus or open ended…but because of the time constraints … which we will not meet…I am on record of not supporting this …we voted to put the spillway in the least non-invasive way…so it all comes down to balance…my concern now is to get the job done … in the least invasive way…the BC government is forcing this on our council…I know Copcan is on a cost plus contract… I hope there will more details on this…

Bestwick: … [makes friendly amendment – that prior to onsite work beginning, Council be allowed to review plans and confirm it is the least invasive option]

Brennan: …that is not a friendly amendment to the motion…

Kipp: …nothing would be removed until the actual location is pinned down, is that the purpose of your motion, Bestwick?

Bestwick: yes … we are moving forward…we all know the spillway is moving east…I don’t want to get into a debate…we need to balance the alternative location

Kipp: …recommendations came from Colliery Dam committee but there was no quorum … I support Bestwick…I don’t want the project started without plans…

Fuller: I voted against the cost plus contract … I like Bestwick’s motion … I can see it working…we’ve agreed to do something…To remove trees before we know where this is going is ludicrous…

Swabey: …we know were it’s going…based on Council’s decision…alternative locations possible for spillway…we don’t have all the details…we will not meet the deadline of the province…

Hong: ….is there a plan of what trees will be removed?… It’s still in limbo…

Swabey: … we do know where the location of the spillway would be…it would cost $300,000 to $500,000 to get drawings for the tree removal, if we get drawings…

Hong: …what stage are we at with the drawings?… when can Copcan start work?…

Staff: September 15th.

Hong: …what percentage of the drawings are done?

Swabey: …Golder is still working on the drawings and probably won’t be finished until October…four to six weeks…

Fuller: ‘we won’t meet the deadline’ is now my favourite saying from Staff. This keeps getting more interesting…we can be assured we won’t meet the deadlines…we haven’t met the deadlines already. September 1st has come and gone. If we approve the motion as it stands…the work would start immediately. If we approve [Bestwick’s amendment]… this could take more time …it could cost $300K and it could also cost less too…nothing has been set in stone…I will vote to support [Bestwick’s] amendment.

Kipp: …who is preparing the drawings, Herold [Engineers]…this rush to get [Copcan] started … Copcan had to have this special meeting today…we are facilitating the comptroller’s request to get going…It’s September 2nd and we haven’t seen any more drawings from Golder…Copcan will get the contract…they are hiring people for landscaping and tree experts yet we have City Staff we are not using…the process seems odd…we have had so many delays…Before staff didn’t care about water rights now they do…the people asks questions we don’t answer…tearing apart the park…What’s the final location of spillway?….we don’t even know the soil construction…

Mayor: calls question on Bestwick’s friendly amendment

Councillors Hong, Kipp, Fuller voted in favour of Bestwick’s motion. Councillors Bestwick, Brennen, Pratt, Thorpe and Mayor Mckay opposed. Bestwick votes against his own motion.

Bestwick continues to ask questions about the proposed location of the auxiliary spillway.

Bestwick: …I am concerned that without the specific details we don’t know things…many people said the dams were fine [including Mayor Mckay]… Do we need to proceed with the project?… I don’t like the project going forward in its current form…We will find ourselves in another conundrum…I am going to vote in favour of Copcan getting the contract…I am going to put all my faith in them…if one tree is saved great… leave it up to the professionals…

Fuller: ….Concillor Kipp received a letter…we have nothing…we don’t have details… there is nothing written in stone on this project…

Kipp: …has the City ever awarded a cost plus contract without detailed drawings?

Swabey: No, but the RDN did just recently with the outfall contract.

Kipp: I voted for that because it was an emergency… Are we charging any late charges on this?

Swabey: There will be no late charges if deadlines are missed.

Kipp: …What is our riparian action on this?

Swabey: We will address it when it comes up.

Kipp: …the dams needed to be monitored from the beginning … the water flow levels… I can’t support this cost plus project…

Hong: …will the trees be saved?…I don’t have a problem with awarding the contract…I can’t vote for this … they [Copcan] don’t need to start right away… Bestwick’s motion was going to give us some assurance of finding the best pathway for the spillway…is this the best option to take?…I would love to save the trees…we need to feel warm and fuzzy inside about this…show us what you can do to save these trees. We need some assurances…I would like to know what trees are going to be removed…let the people know as well…

Bestwick: When this specific location was chosen…what other options did Golder & Herold work on?…

Staff: …three other design types were presented…

Bestwick: …my question wasn’t answered… the site of the spillway? …did we define the [exact] location…not what type of spillway…you didn’t answer my question…we didn’t have any option before this nothing…

Swabey: …we don’t have time to do anything…we just relied on Golder…we don’t have time…

Bestwick: …rocks to be removed…the pinning of the concrete…slope…trees…removed…the shortest route might not be the best…

Swabey: … it costs $20,000 to drill a day….we don’t have the time ….this is the route chosen

Bestwick: …the deadline is a mystery to me…it’s not going to be [completed in time]

Pratt: Call the question

Fuller: …if this motion is defeated…I will make a new motion…fight ’til we die….

Hong: … I don’t have a problem with awarding the contract… Bestwick’s amendment was good…

Kipp: …what is ‘substantial completion’? Is it up to the comptroller?

Swabey: …we have to work with the province…

Pratt: Call the question

Bestwick: has Golder or Herold submitted design drawings with locations for the spillway?

Mayor calls the question to award Copcan Civil Ltd the contract for the Colliery Dams remediation project.

Councillors Bestwick, Brennan, Pratt and Thorpe and Mayor McKay voted in favour. Councillors Kipp, Fuller and Hong voted against.

Kipp: I want off the Colliery Dam Select Committee [it’s a farce].

Fuller: makes a motion to disband the Colliery Dams committee. All voted in favour.

How can the City of Nanaimo blindly enter a cost-plus contract with no strings attached? The contractor can take as long as they like while the Nanaimo taxpayers are paying through the nose.