Day two of the Capital Pointe appeal is underway. The hearing began with the cross examination of the developer's expert witness by the city.
Kai-Sing Hui and his firm are currently on retainer as engineer of record for Westgate Developments Ld., who is the developer of the Capital Pointe project.
Christine Clifford, the lawyer for the City of Regina questioned Hui about the stability of the site, including some movement recorded in the northeast corner of the lot.
Clifford also asked if water in the excavation contravenes the Building Code of Canada. Hui responded by saying that portion of the code is only relevant if workers are on site. He said it isn’t practical to remove the water from the site when there are no workers present.
Back in April, the city ordered the developer to fill the hole, after communication from the previous engineer of record indicated that the temporary shoring of the excavation was no longer safe, and the site should be decommissioned.
On Tuesday, Hui testified that the site is currently safe, and that the shoring is sufficient to last until at least December 8.
When cross examined by Clifford, he also added that it is common for an engineering firm to suggest decommissioning a site when severing ties to a project, as they could still be held liable the event of an incident.
After Hui’s cross examination wrapped up, the city called their expert witness to the stand.
Kenyon testified that the site isn’t safe, saying the northeast corner of the site has moved way more than the original design had anticipated. He testified that if that movement continued, it could impact the dry-cleaning building next door to the site.
When questioned by Clifford whether or not the decommission order prepared by the previous engineer should be considered, Kenyon said it would be “dangerous” to ignore their suggestions. He said as the designer of record, they know more about the design than anyone. He testified that they had raised concerns in November of 2017 and May of 2018 before they were removed from the project.
CTV’s Karyn Mulcahy is at the appeal.
