Permanent fix for Regina sink hole could cost $15M
City committee also recommends council reduce Saskatchewan Roughriders' rent during COVID-19 seasons
Regina city administration believes it could take $15 million to permanently fix a sink hole and the collapsed storm water pipe that caused it.
The pipe dates back to the 1940s and was about two metres in diameter.
The city became aware of the collapsed pipe in June 2023. When it happened, it opened a sink hole in the backyard of a family living on the other side of the Memorial Bridge on Albert Street.
The temporary fix cost the City of Regina about $1.45 million in April. It involved creating a large ditch in Wascana Park and using large water pumps to move rainwater to Wascana Creek. Of that cost, $280,000 was to set up the temporary bypass system, $630,000 to fill and stabilize the sink hole, and $675,000 a year to operate the bypass system.
During an audit and finance committee meeting on Tuesday, city administration said that a permanent fix could cost about 10 times that.
"What you will see in the budget request is going to be a $5 million request in 2025 and a $10 million request in 2026 to implement the permanent solution," said Kurtis Doney, deputy city manager of city operations.
Doney said most of the money spent on the project so far was in the 2023 operating budget, and the spending for 2024 is for ongoing costs like rentals.
Doney made the comment Tuesday while discussing the mid-year forecast report. The report was not part of a vote to dole out the money.
Saskatchewan Roughriders COVID-19 rent reduction
However, the committee did vote to recommend that city council retroactively reduce the Saskatchewan Roughriders' rental price for Mosaic Stadium for both the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
If passed, it would forgive the Canadian Football League (CFL) team's $1.33 million in outstanding rent at Mosaic Stadium in 2020 ($948,000) and 2021 ($379,000) out of the total $3.6 million in rent payments.
The reduction relies on the remaining $2.2 million being received.
The CFL season was cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and only ran about 70 per cent of a normal football season in 2021 for the same reason, according to city documents.
The Roughriders did not use Mosaic Stadium for their football and retail operations as part of the regular business course for those two years.
Civilian committee member Robert Humphries said that residents, like himself, "can't even afford to go to a Rider game, yet we're being asked to pay to write off $1.33 million."
City administration explained that the reduction was a result of negotiations and had been written into a contractual agreement with the team. Despite that, the comments sparked conversation that led to an in-camera discussion.
The motion was later passed unanimously.