Pavement work's going ahead this fall at Delta Beach, and plans are to extend it from one end to the other. RM of Portage la Prairie Reeve Kam Blight outlines the decision made today at the RM council meeting.

Reeve Kam Blight"A lot of the damage that took place in the 2011 flood. The roads that are out there were damaged to a great degree. The pavement was wrecked, etc. So, finally we're getting around to using some of the DFA funding that's provided to us to restore things to the way they were before the flood. And we're getting the paving done this fall."

Representation from AECOM spoke to the council and explained all the work that's planned.

Blight says, "What we did today was heard a presentation on exactly what's going to be happening. It's kind of an information session for some of the public that was here. And we awarded the tender, and hopefully will get it paved wall to wall, from one end to the next. We'll also be doing some work on the campground as well. We've kind of lumped a lot of that work in there, too. We'll finally see some action in that area. And we're possibly also doing a little other paving just on Drive-in road."

Blight says questions were raised by the public about certain areas initially left off the plans for Delta Beach. He notes they asked for confirmation, and council informed them that change orders were issued to the province to allow them to be included. Blight says he foresees no issues with the inclusion, yet there is a process required to apply for the changes. He notes the contractors have no issues with doing the extra work. Based on what they were told, once the contractors chosen for tender's been notified it should be a matter of weeks. Blight admits it's a short timeframe, but they're confident it will be no problem.

He notes a local contractor was chosen despite a non-local bid for the job at less money. He notes three tenders were received and two of them were local. The non-local company was going to sublet some work to one of the locals, so it made things more interesting for their choice. Blight explains they chose the second lowest local bid. He says local companies support the RM, and he says it's important to support them if they can, within reason. He notes money has to be watched if the numbers are too far apart between bids, but in this case, the numbers were close enough. He adds they're glad they can support a local company with some business.