The city of Port Alberni will be seeking a voluntary extension of warranty from Marathon Surfaces for the Bob Dailey Stadium track, following ongoing concerns about breakdown of the track’s surface.
The city received a report during an Oct. 23 meeting of council from parks supervisor Rob Gaudreault, who provided some history on the surface of the Bob Dailey track and the repairs that have taken place so far.
The track was constructed in 1992, but following some concerns of deterioration, city council moved to resurface the track in 2013 with a budget of $636,000. They accepted a bid from the lowest qualified bidder, Marathon Surfaces, to undertake the work, at a price of $448,000.
Gaudreault was not in council chambers on Oct. 23, but city CAO Tim Pley provided some information on the current state of the project.
“The track was resurfaced and over the years since then we’ve had some ongoing concerns with breakdown of the track, delamination of the material,” he said.
Marathon Surfaces has made repairs to the new track surfaces, most recently in September, when they did a sizeable repair piece and a number of smaller patches.
The city will continue to monitor areas of the track over the winter, and Marathon Surfaces will return in the spring to repair any outstanding items.
The city’s warranty with Marathon expires in December 2018, so Pley said it is the intention of the city to make sure the track is at that point in good condition.
But the city will also be seeking a voluntary extension of warranty from Marathon Surfaces.
“Given that we’ve had some problems with that surface, it would be reasonable to expect we’ll have more problems going forward,” said Pley.
If Marathon does not agree to an extended warranty, the city will consider at that time what action to take.
“This is a concern for some in the community,” said Pley. “We got 20 years out of the first surface and only five, with repairs, out of the current one.”
Pley added that an issue with drainage was discovered, but this is a problem of the city’s, not Marathon’s, and Gaudreault is taking steps to address this.