City council moved the project to restore Penticton Creek one step along this week, choosing a firm to design the work that needs to be done.
Penticton Creek was channelized in 1950, after the river flooded destructively in 1948. But after 63 years, the concrete bed has decayed significantly and native populations of rainbow trout have been all but extirpated. In the past, the creek had been a major producer of both trout and kokanee.
“If you only ever go along the creek by car, you have no idea of the deterioration that is happening to that creek,” said Coun. Judy Sentes. “There are some pretty significant holes in the concrete along there.”
The city received its first year of funding from the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation last spring in the amount $63,680 to begin planning the rehabilitation of the creek, which is the third-largest tributary of Okanagan Lake.
The committee set up to handle the project reported back to council on Dec. 16 with a recommendation that Stantec Consulting be awarded the contract to design the rehabilitation.
The committee received 12 applications to a request for proposals and narrowed the results down to four.
“Of those four firms, the firm with the best overall score was Stantec, they topped in three out of the five project categories, including price,” said planning manager Jake Belobaba. The top three firms all scored closely, but price put Stantec at the top of the list.
“They met all their qualifications that were required and they came down to a price that was with in our project budget and lower than the other firms,” said Belobaba. “Technically it was a very close score, but that price issue was key in the decision making process.”
Council voted unanimously in favour of awarding the contract to Stantec.