The Melfort Heliport will be built on the Melfort Hospital grounds. (Cam Lee/northeastNOW Staff)

By Cam Lee

Heliport Project

More fundraising needed before Melfort Heliport tender awarded

Jul 15, 2020 | 10:30 AM

The Melfort Heliport Project has hit a bit of a hurdle.

The tender for the project was presented at an in-camera session of City Council on Monday. The project manager, Catterall and Wright Consulting Engineers, recommended the contract be awarded to the low bidder, Con-Tech General Contractors Ltd.

The total cost of the project was pegged at $605,806.44, and Council heard the contract price would be reduced by $74,000 through donated work time and material from local subcontractors and suppliers.

The Municipal Health Advocacy Committee, in conjunction with the North Central Health Care Foundation, would be tasked to fund the remaining $531,806.44. However, to date, they have raised a total of $471,411 in cash and $13,000 in other gift in kind donations, leaving them just over $47,000 short.

“Council has sent this information back to the Heliport Fundraising Committee to let them know that the project still needs a little bit more money,” Director of Development, Planning and Community Relations Brent Lutz told northeastNOW.

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The fundraising committee met on Tuesday, July 14 to discuss moving forward with some additional fundraising initiatives, now that some of the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.

“We’re hoping yet to be able to award this contract within 30 days so that we can take advantage of the pricing,” Lutz said. If the tender isn’t awarded within 30 days, it could potentially delay the project, according to Lutz.

The terms of the tender agreement are that the City must confirm and award the agreement within 30 days of the closing date, and that the contractor would have the project completed by Sept. 30 as planned.

“We’d like to stay on schedule with that, and we’re hopeful that the committee is successful in raising the remaining funds in that time frame,” Lutz said.

Anyone interested in supporting the project through a donation can contact fundraising chair Rod Gantefoer at 306-921-7679, NCHCF chair Peggy George at 306-921-8955, or City Hall at 306-752-5911.

Lutz said the project is important and worthwhile.

“The Heliport at the Melfort Hospital will enable STARS rescue to be able to transfer trauma patients directly from Melfort Hospital to Saskatoon to the [Jim Pattison] Children’s Hospital there, without having to land at any airports or transfer patients between airports,” Lutz said. “This will give them the potential to shorten the transfer time by almost an hour, and this is critical in trauma situations that people get the medical attention that they need right away.”

The City of Melfort became involved in exploring options for a potential heliport in Melfort back in 2011. Council voted to allow the construction of a heliport in 2018. The official fundraising campaign began early this year.

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974