ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — City council appeared gleeful as they approved a series of snow-blowback contracts Monday evening, totalling more than $829,000.
The contractors will blow back snow in residential neighbourhoods to make way for future snow storage.
Coun. Deanne Stapleton said she has received a lot of calls wondering why the blowback operations weren’t yet completed, so she was glad to see the contracts awarded.
Coun. Wally Collins said he had asked why the contracts were all for the east end of the city, and both he and Mayor Danny Breen said it’s because the city’s equipment is being used in the west end.
Breen also said some city-owned equipment was breaking because of the icy snowbanks, and there was potential to get behind with the work.
“That’s why we went ahead with bringing in contractors to help out,” he said.
While council formally approved the work Monday evening, they had already voted on most of it via e-poll last week.
An open call for bids was not invited because it was considered emergency or urgent work.
The city approached the companies directly for bids, and chose the lowest quote for each neighbourhood.
Airport Heights was awarded to Parsons Paving at $326,000.
Clovelly Trails was awarded to Weir’s Construction at $138,203.
Wedgewood Park was awarded to Parsons Paving at $167,160.
East Meadows was awarded to Weir’s Construction at $114,000, and Kensington Estates was awarded to Weir’s Construction at $84,000.
Breen said these amounts were factored into earlier estimates about the high cost of snowclearing this year due to the Jan. 17 blizzard.
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