Horsefly spillway approved near Taber, though for more money than first thought

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on December 8, 2022.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

TABER

A bid to build the initial phase of the Horsefly spillway near Taber worth $25 million has been accepted by the Municipal District of Taber, though that amount is 25 per cent more than a five-year-old estimate.

The M.D. council approved the move at special meeting on Nov. 7 where they heard seven bids during the tendering process ranging from the low, winning bid of $25.3 million, from Lethbridge-based Degraaf Excavating, to a high bid of $31.4 million.

Construction is targeted to be complete by spring of 2024.

“The Technical Committee has done their best to try and find savings in the project,” said Taber Reeve Merrill Harris. “(They) met with Degraaf and discussed many items with them. This is what they came up with as far as what they could trim out of the tender and still make the project a go. At this point, we need to move ahead with this project.”

The amount is more than the $20.5 million estimated in 2018 when the project was first costed out.

Since then the federal and provincial governments have dedicated funds to the three-party cost-sharing project, but the final arrangement is still not clear.

Phase 1 would connect Taber Lake to the Oldman River, Phase 2 the Horsefly Reservoir to Taber Lake and Phase 3 the St. Mary’s Irrigation District main canal to Horselfy Reservoir.

The entire project, estimated at 2018 to cost $47 million, was denoted as the top priority for the South Regional Storm-water Drainage Committee, made up of regional Municipalities, including Medicine Hat, Cypress County and the County of Forty Mile.

Other potential projects recommended by the regional committee in 2017 include improvements at Sauder Reservoir and Murray Lake, and a similar spillway in the area.

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