It may still be some time before Lake Cowichan’s columbarium burial site can be completed.
Mayor Ross Forrest asked at the March 13 council meeting, “Any idea on the time line for this? It’s March now and the years are rolling by.”
Town CAO Joe Fernandez said,”Hopefully by the end of May. The contract will be awarded and it will be a quick process after that.”
Coun. Bob Day was equally concerned.
”I wanted some clarification because I noticed the crew that did the waterworks on Greendale Road is still camped there. Will the work at the bridge impede any progress on the columbarium park?” he asked.
Lake Cowichan’s works superintendent Nagi Rizk said, “Right now the construction site is still active. The project has not been released, has not been completed. In the next two weeks the general contractor, the subcontractor, myself will decide on the paving, and then that will be the end of that contract.
“They will not move the construction trailer until all that takes place. It could be two, three, four weeks from now. And to answer the question more directly: yes, if we do start the other job for the Greendale trestle, we would be staging again in this area. I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news. I just want to be as practical as possible. And I do have safety concerns when we do have two very different jobs working within close proximity,” Rizk replied.
Coun. Tim McGonigle, said, “Once we finalize the tender for the Greendale trestle line and it’s awarded, then we can look at the columbarium one and decide, given that this table would like to see both projects completed by the end of our term.”
Day asked if work on the water line along the Greendale trestle could mobilize on the other side of the river.
“Also, from a question I received from a member of the public,” he said, “seeing as we’re a ways off from a sewer on Greendale, would it be just as inexpensive to chipseal Greendale Road [instead of paving]?”
Rizk said, “We did look at the chipseal option…Duncan Paving thinks it’s not going to last. As for staging on the other side, both sides will be occupied, because there will be excavation on both ends. It could be as simple as a couple of weeks break on one side and then moving away from the columbarium. It could be as simple as that. Once it’s awarded, we can work out the timelines,” he said.