A second Swift Current facility had its roof replacement approved at last week's meeting of city council. This one 4 years in the waiting.

A heavy rain event in the summer of 2017 caused several areas of the Service Centre roof to fail and cause flooding in the basement. While emergency patching was completed, it nevertheless required replacement, and in 2019 $225,000 was earmarked for the project under that year's capital budget.

The money was then carried over to 2020 and then delayed again due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now moving forward, the city put in a request for proposals and, similar to those that were received for the roof upgrades to the water treatment plant that Swift Current Online reported on earlier, no bids (out of a total of 10) were from local companies as none had the qualifications for the specific type of work required.

Unlike the water treatment plant, however, the lowest proposal for the Service Centre came from Plato's Superior Roofing from Medicine Hat, at $234,973.

That figure surpasses the amount budgeted in 2019 and also does not include electrical or mechanical work, and therefore some budget reallocation would be required to make up the difference.

According to Mitch Minken, the General Manager of Infrastructure and Operations, that reallocation would come from this year's Service Centre maintenance account.