Belleville City Council approved an amendment to increase the total budget for the Avonlough Sewage Pumping Station project by about $30 million at its meeting on Monday.
The amendment comes after council also approved a recommendation from staff to accept the lowest bid from Peak Construction Group Ltd. in the amount of $38,192,900 (excluding HST) for work on Contract 1 of the project.
The project was initially budgeted for $55 million, but according to a report to council, although there is sufficient funding to award Contract 1, there was insufficient funding for Contract 2 to complete the project following the bid.
Contract 1 is for the Avonlough Pumping Station itself and twin forcemains to connect to the gravity sewer on Bridge Street West near Palmer Road.
Contract 2 is for the conveyance piping along all of Bridge Street West to the existing pipe crossing the Moira River.
As part of the $30 million increase, the report to council notes that $22.3 million of that would come from development charges.
Councillor Paul Carr sought to clarify if these were already collected development charges or if it would be dependent on the rate of growth to reach that $22.3 million.
Director of Finance and City Treasurer for the City of Belleville, Brandon Ferguson, said that the city felt comfortable that there is enough in the Development Charges Reserve and in projected collections to cash‑flow the project from DCs.
Construction on Contract 1 is expected to begin this summer and be completed by December 2028.
