City council continues work on final welcome sign replacement for nearly $300k

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Council is moving forward with plans to replace one of the city’s four welcome signs at a cost of almost $300k. 

During the July 14th regular council meeting, the City of Fort St. John council awarded a tender for work on the final piece of city entrance signage. 

The invitation to bid opened on May 29th and closed on June 12th, with the city receiving two bids, one from S. Young Enterprises for $400,412 and one from Northern Legendary Construction, the winning bid, for $283,000.

The budget for the project was set at $400,000, meaning even after the company’s $54,000 engineering price, the project is $63,000 under budget. 

The city previously approved the planning for the project to begin during an August 2024 council meeting, also specifying a new location would be required due to an underground high-pressure gas line and overhead power lines. 

The project is the culmination of signage updates conducted on the four entrance signs in previous years. 

The new location, referred to by staff as the “Chiulli Triangle,” sits at the west entrance of the city near the Pomeroy Hotel and Conference Centre between Highway 97 and 100th Avenue. 

According to Ryan Harvey, communications manager for the city, no dates have been set at this time for the start of construction or the project’s total timeline.