The Regional District of Central Kootenay has awarded the contract to upgrade the Balfour and Kaslo transfer stations to McNally Excavating of Nelson.
Construction was supposed to start this month but the RDCK rejected all of the original tenders for being over the approved project budget. The RDCK worked with the engineering team to revise the project scope, reduce costs and re-tender the project, which has been planned since 2010. The total contract value for the tendered works is about $964,000. Construction is expected to begin mid-June and wrap up in early October.
“We are pleased that we were able to rework the scope of the project so that these valuable upgrades can happen and we are excited to begin construction,” Tom Newell, chair of the central subregion resource recovery committee said in a prepared statement. “The RDCK has worked closely with engineers and contractors to create an action plan to minimize any inconvenience for residents.”
Both the Kaslo and Balfour sites will be closed during construction, however, only one site will be closed at any given time.
The Kaslo transfer station will close June 15 to July 28 and the Balfour station from Aug. 1 to Oct. 2.
The RDCK says it’s taking several steps to minimize disruption to the public during the site closures, including accepting small loads of residential waste in Kaslo on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and in Balfour on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A contractor will receive mixed waste outside the transfer station at $2.50 per bag. Larger loads, scrap metal, and wood waste won’t be accepted.
There will also be extended hours at Balfour during the Kaslo closure. The Balfour transfer station will be open Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in addition to the regular Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday hours of 10 to 4.
Additionally, the Grohman Narrows transfer station west of Nelson will soon extend its hours to Monday to Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Recycling bins will still be available in Kaslo at the village works yard and in Balfour outside the construction zone.