Downtown Rehabilitation: Bids are Open

Today the City released a tender for the next phase of Downtown Rehabilitation. This summer we will be doing 100 Ave from 100 St to 102 St. What was released today will allow companies to bid on the work.

You may be interested in this blog post: https://bressey.ca/meetings/2017/downtown. I wrote it shortly before we voted on Downtown Rehabilitation. It gives some background information and explains why I voted in favour of going ahead with the next phase this year.

The earlier phases of this project provided many learning experiences. To approve continuation, Council had to be confident that the future phases would go more smoothly. Administration is making many process changes. However, there are five in particular that give me confidence this work will be done as painlessly as possible:

• Getting the tender out now. Our current timeline should allow work to begin as soon as the ground is thawed. An early start is key to success.
• A communications budget. Council added $125,000 to the project to go towards communications. Staff will be well resourced to communicate with effected businesses and to let the public know businesses are open and how to access them.
• A City point person. Administration will have a full-time person tasked with overseeing this project. This person will be given authority to direct contractors and to speak on the City's behalf. They will be given responsibility to implement great communication plans. And they will be mandated to be a single point of contact for effected businesses.
• City participation at Downtown Business Association (DBA) meetings. Senior members of our staff will be attending DBA meetings throughout the project. This will ensure that they are receiving real-time feedback about any problems that arise.
• Regular Council updates. Progress updates will be given to Council every two weeks via the Infrastructure and Protective Services committee. This will allow us to properly monitor the project and to pass on feedback we have received.

I've heard many ideas from our staff and from downtown businesses about how to make the best of this summer. Many of them are common sense. But some are really smart and some are lots of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how our downtown community comes together. I'm also really excited to walk on a beautiful street knowing that I am a few feet above proper underground plumbing.

As always, I welcome any thoughts, feedback, or questions.

Thanks for reading;

Dylan