Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, this is the section that has the money allocated for that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Part two of the question was how much is allocated? Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's an incremental amount of $1,724,000. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Does that include any environmental monitoring that needs to be done along the corridor in terms of water quality, permafrost stuff, access off the road that might bother wildlife, and those kinds of things? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Out of that 1,724, there is $252,000 included in there for environmental monitoring for the next two years. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister tell us where we are at with regard to any contract work to do the maintenance on the road? Has a contract been signed, or is it out for tender, or what? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Just a reminder to everyone to make sure the light is on before you begin speaking. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are on a short-term contract for the maintenance right now until final completion of the road, and that is when we will be looking at doing a long-term contract. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. When does this short-term contract end, and when does the Minister expect to have a longer-term contract in place? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The one that we have presently is going to be done here in April, and then we will be doing another short-term contract until substantial completion is done, hopefully in the fall of this year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. The Minister was so quick there, I couldn't actually catch all of it. The short-term contract that he anticipates is going to go from April until September, basically over the summer months, and then the Minister is looking at having a longer-term contract in place after that. Are we looking for a three- or five-year arrangement? Does the Minister have any ideas in place around the term of this longer-term contract? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will speak a little slower.
The first short-term contract was from November to April of this year. That one is going to be done here right away. We are going to do another one from April until September on that, hoping substantial completion is done by then,
Then, any long-term contract, we haven't decided on a term or anything, we will be sitting down to figure out what the length of term that is going to be going forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I understand the timelines now. The Minister uses this word "substantial completion." Is there still work that is outstanding under the construction contracts that has not been completed? Is that what the Minister is referring to, and that is supposed to happen this upcoming summer of 2018? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. What I am talking about, I am talking about the deficiencies that are left on the road that have to be completed, and the major part of that is the 14 kilometres of top gravel that needs to be done on the Tuktoyaktuk end of the highway. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly. Nothing further from Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hopefully, this will be a quick exchange here.
For highway operations, we saw an increase of about $4 million in here, and $1.7 million, approximately, is going to the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway. Where are the other increases occurring? Is it split over all of the other highways, or are we focusing on certain highways? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. McCormick.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, it's the $1.7 million for Highway Tuktoyaktuk O and M, and the rest of it is actually an increase for amortization, which is also to do with the ITH.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister or the witness there please expand on what he is talking about? Is this money all going to the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway? That is what it sounded like to me, that that is where all of the costs are, but can I get that clarified? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. McCormick, could you flesh out your answer?
Yes, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Yes, the $1.724 million is for the highway operations itself. $2.7 million of that is for amortization expense, which is recorded in the books, and that is just for depreciation on the highway now that it is in service for this year.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Could the witness explain if this is a one-year thing or if this is a 30-year? Could he please explain the amortization period? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. McCormick.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The $2.7 is for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. The highway itself would be amortized over 40 years.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Moving forward, after 2018-2019, what are we looking at for amortization? Is this what we are looking at, $2.7 for the next 40 years, or is this going to be reduced as we move forward? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. McCormick, please wait until your light is on. Mr. McCormick.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This would actually be a reduced amount for a partial year. The GNWT uses straight line amortization, so it would be the total cost of the highway. The final completed cost would be amortized over the next 40 years, and that's just a straight divided out.
Just a reminder to everyone to let us know when you are done speaking. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. What would a normal year be? You're talking we're only going partial year, so what would the normal year be? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Who am I directing this to? Mr. McCormick.
This cost of this highway would be in the neighbourhood of $8 or $9 million. It is just an amortization for an asset of this magnitude.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hopefully, this will be my last question so I get a better understanding of it. So basically for the next 39 years, we're looking at $8 million a year, between $8 and $9 million, that we'll see on the books each year? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, that's true and that will be all rolled in with all of our other assets. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson. Nothing further from Mr. Thompson. Next, I have Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also want to be able to give credit where credit is due. I want to commend the Department of Infrastructure for the work that they've done on making the improvements along Highway 4 and the entrance into the city.
The pathway, the new sidewalk along the rock face, as well as the illuminated crosswalk that was installed, are very well appreciated. I've had a number of comments provided to me from residents in the area. I'm sure that visitors to the city who, you know, visit around the area and who reside in the two hotels in the area are very grateful for that as well. Some kudos and thanks to the department for that investment.
Further to Highway 4, last year around this time I asked if we were able to consider putting barricades in the corner approaching the Prosperous boat launch. I understood that the department was evaluating those corners and maybe potentially considering some design to put in barricades. Can the Minister provide us with an update or whether or not barricades will be installed at that corner this year? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
