I admit I was blown away with the news report (SP Jan. 7/12) that the wind turbine project was to be put on hold - even more so for the reason that the project was coming in over budget. I can't think of one other project that got cancelled for that reason. This is what I like about election years - politicians become more cognizant of voter opinions.
What is most irksome is that the City spent $500,000 before coming to this juncture. The budget for the project would have been developed during the consulting process. And the only bid on the project came from the company that did much of the consulting work. You would think this company would have known the prices and advised accordingly while billing for the advice.
Perhaps its face-saving, but to have the folks from Saskatoon Light and Power maintain that they still believe that the landfill is best location for a wind turbine, despite the expert report from the Research Council saying the site was marginal, has to make me question the wisdom of this administrative advice.
There is more blowing in this project than wind.
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I saw Pat Lorje on TV this morning. She was troubled by the fact that the company who did the feasibility study was the only company that submitted an RFP. I must admit that I find this troubling too...
ReplyDeleteWorth mentioning that 'marginal' is actually the 2nd lowest (maybe lowest) score that you can get. So basically the report concluded that of all the places we could put one in Saskatoon that this was a bad one. Yet Admin and all the Greenies kept pushing this like it was a great idea.
ReplyDeleteIf the turbine really was a demo for practical reasons then they would have found a suitable location for it to begin with. Just one more example why the environmental INDUSTRY (that is what it is at this point, all about making a buck by saying they are green) never mentioned they wanted to stick it at such a bad location. Just wanted a turbine to say they were being green.
Thank god it was cancelled. I would wish heads would roll for the waste of 500k but looking at the City's track record that is unlikely to happen.
On other news, a huge chunk of my local street popped out over the weekend. There is now a gaping 3 foot wide pothole in the road that the city said won't be fixed anytime soon when I contacted them. This City is getting better and better by the day.
Yay for wasting money on pretending to care about the environment.
A consulting company knows that the budget is in the 4 million dollar range and DOESN'T tell you that you can't get a bid in at that level? The best bid was 2 mil higher by the same people who got paid $500,000 to tell the city that the project was feasible. In a sane world someone at Saskatoon Light and Power would lose a job and multiple people in administration would be in jail.
ReplyDeleteNow we can look forward to a repeat of this debacle when the recycling debate resumes.
"On other news, a huge chunk of my local street popped out over the weekend. There is now a gaping 3 foot wide pothole in the road that the city said won't be fixed anytime soon when I contacted them. This City is getting better and better by the day"
ReplyDeleteExactly what are your expectations in the middle of winter?
Prepping the base at this time of year is just asking for future trouble, and if you want fresh asphalt your're probably going to have to fly it in from Georga or Florida. Guess how much that costs.
The company who bid on the wind turbine installation only did $12,000 worth of the $500,000 feasibility study.
ReplyDeleteThis is much more about the ineptitude of CofS middle and upper management and if a mistake of this magnitude was made in private industry heads would roll and they should here as well, a two million dollar under estimate is not acceptable. RFP estimate just over 4 million and it comes in 2 million over that's like a 40-50% error!
ReplyDelete"The company who bid on the wind turbine installation only did $12,000 worth of the $500,000 feasibility study."
ReplyDeleteWell then, why didn't we just pay this company the $12,000 to tell us that the big fan in the landfill couldn't be built for less than 6 million and not worry about the rest of the study?
What's the point of a half a million dollar study when you can find out that the set budget won't come close to covering the project for only $12,000. It looks like $488,000 worth of needless consulting work got done and paid for.
I heard Pat Loreje mention awhile back how Montgomery has suffered enough and doesn't need a wind turbine near their community. She cited health problems, birds, etc. Yet the city paid $500,000. for a feasibility study. This is approximately the same amount that was spent on lights on the Victoria Bridge that needs to be torn down. We also can't reuse the lights.Today I read in The Express again how Montgomery is suffering with the proposed development in the area. Although Saskatoon is growing, building out towards Montgomery is unacceptable because the community is special. It has a historical aspect to it as well as large lots, no sidewalks and a country setting. I suggest that the Pat and the association look into having Montgomery declared an Historical site. Maybe even make it a gated community as well. Then they will be immune to City Councils empire building, fiscal mismanagement and insensitivity to other communities. I myself live in Riversdale and instead of a tree in my front yard, I have a large F___ garbage can. The back lane is still dirty and littered and gangs still sell their drugs in the alley. The garbage cans also make a spectacular statement to those visiting the Farmers Market. But,as long as Montgomery doesn't have to suffer from the mismanagement of City Hall, we shall all be happy. To the lady with the 3 foot pothole in her street, if you lived in Montgomery, I would have been fixed the same day.
ReplyDelete