KAGAWONG—Billings township council has accepted a bid for engineering service to conduct a Mud Creek Road Access study that will outline options to be considered.

“I am happy to see this study is moving ahead. This has been a long-standing issue for many years,” stated Councillor Ian Anderson at a recent council meeting.

In mid-2024, council had approved the concept of exploring options for accessing the properties on the east side of Lake Kagawong. The research was to include bridge replacement and other work that could be conducted, council was told. Staff developed a request for proposal (RFP) for a Mud Creek Access study, which was issued in July and closed on August 25.

It was pointed out by staff that the process included a mandatory site visit attended by representatives of seven engineering firms, with four firms ultimately submitting proposals by the deadline. The proposals were reviewed and evaluated by staff using the following evaluation matrix: including project team experience, demonstrated project understanding, cost, as well as value added, innovation, alternatives and overall proposal quality and clarity.

The four bids included those from EXP Services Inc in the amount of $32,770 with an evaluation score of 70, K Smart and Associates Ltd. with a score of 77 and a cost quote of $45,991, Shellex Consulting Group with a score of 89 and a quotation of $26,080.40, and WSP Canada Inc. with a score of 74 and a cost quote of $77,266.01.

At its meeting, council passed a motion to accept the bid from Shellex Consulting Group.

Billings Municipal Project Manager (MPM) Todd Gordon noted that the intended timeline is for a report to be forwarded to council for its consideration in late November.