Category #construction   Show all

  • Raven's nest inactive; more trees to be cleared

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    The trees on the northeast corner of the Mills Memorial Hospital site, the corner of Tetrault Street and Keith Avenue, will be cleared today and tomorrow, June 10 and 11.

    Most trees on the site have already been cleared to prepare for the construction of a new hospital, but this patch, behind the Seven Sisters facility, was left to protect a raven who had nested there.

    A sweep this morning by Triton Environmental Consultants, however, said the area is now "inactive", and that "no other bird nests or nesting behaviour were observed during the survey."

    One woodpecker nest remains on the site, in the Northeast corner, in a patch of trees that will also need to be cleared once the nest is inactive.

    A Northern Flicker also has a nest in a row of trees between Tetrault Street and the Mills Memorial hospital parking lot.

    Work continues in the exciting anticipation of the construction of a new hospital starting soon.


  • Prep work to begin on site

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    As of Thursday, May 27, local residents can expect to see some activity on the Mills Memorial Hospital site. This activity is in preparation for the potential construction of a new Mills Memorial Hospital and Seven Sisters Facility in Terrace.

    This week, delivery trucks will be bringing equipment and materials to the site. Starting next week, some contractors will be on site, and trucks will begin to come and go regularly.

    The main traffic flow has most work vehicles accessing the site from Tetrault Street and exiting onto Haugland Avenue. Traffic in the neighbourhood may increase slightly, but is not expected to be significant.

    Parking at the hospital should not be impacted at this time.

    General work hours will be from 7am to 6pm, seven days a week.

    Note that for this project, the City of Terrace granted an exemption to bylaw NO. 2100-2016, which regulates, prohibits, and imposes requirements on noise. So that the project can be completed faster, the exemption allows for activity on site seven days a week.

    While a design build agreement for the construction of the new Mills Memorial Hospital is still in the works, we are managing the project to ensure no delay should construction proceed.

    Stay tuned for more updates!

  • New view from Sande Overpass

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    A significant number of trees were recently cleared on Northern Health’s Mills Memorial Hospital site. Northern Health felled hazard trees for public safety. We also cleared necessary trees to ensure the construction of a new hospital could happen as soon as possible. While a design build agreement for the construction of a new Mills Memorial Hospital is still in the works, we are managing the project to ensure no delay.

    At this time of year, birds start nesting. Once a bird has nested in a tree, legally, to protect the bird and the nest, one cannot cut down that tree or those nearby. Clearing trees now will prevent potential bird nesting, which could have delayed the clearing of trees later, and as a result, delayed the start of construction. Any delay to construction, minor or major, would add significant costs to the project.

    Please be assured that plans for the new hospital include significant landscaping and revegetation.

  • Final stages of procurement

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    Working towards a Design Build Agreement

    The MMH Replacement project is in the last stage of the procurement process. The procurement process started in May 2019 when the BC Government announced the approval of the business plan for Mills Memorial Hospital Replacement project. Since then, we've worked through the following phases of the procurement process.

    1. Request for Qualifications (RFQ)
      • Resulted in only one qualified bidder

    2. Modified Request for Proposals (RFP)
      • Design and financial negotiations happen in parallel
      • Significant oversight from the Province and the Project Board, which consists of senior executives from the Ministry of Health, health authority representatives and other stakeholders.

    3. Project Board Final Approval

    4. Financial Close => Design Build Agreement (We are here!)

    The final proponent will be formally announced and construction will begin when the Request for Proposals process is closed and fulfilled, and a final Design Build Agreement (DBA) is signed.

    Capital Projects Take Time

    A major capital project is a large undertaking that takes a series of planning steps to ensure the facility is:

    • designed appropriately;
    • tendered and constructed for the best value;
    • scheduled properly to ensure the continuity of health care at the existing hospital is maintained during the construction period.

    Hospitals are highly complex facilities with many interconnected systems, services and equipment. It’s in our best interest to work through the project thoroughly to ensure that we get the facility we need, in accordance with the financial scope the government has set.