Saint John councillors have celebrated the signing of a $216 million contract for the design, construction and operation of a new water treatment system by a public-private partnership.
“Welcome to a council meeting that is 230 years in the making,” announced Saint John Mayor Mel Norton before reading a lengthy proclamation on the water deal which was promptly approved by council.
Port City Water Partners, a consortium of eight companies led by Brookfield Financial Securities LP, includes Spain’s Acciona Aqua, North America Construction, SIMO Management Inc., two engineering and consulting firms: AMEC Foster Wheeler, and Stantec, and two local Irving owned companies: FCC Construction and Gulf Operators.
The project will feature a water treatment plant with a capacity for 75 million litres per day along with the construction or replacement of 20 km of piping.
Norton said he expects the federal and provincial governments to pick up “roughly” 50 per cent of the construction costs, although that has yet to be finalized.
A municipal report released to city council says the final funding agreement with the federal Crown corporation P3 Canada will be concluded “over the next few weeks” based on the eligible costs of the project. The report says the $216 million price tag is $40 million less than an estimate in March 2013.
