Council Approves Issuing Two Tenders
Trench work from Phase Three of cast iron water main replacement
It was just approved recently for tender but the City is ready to award tenders on some of the infrastructure work set for 2019.
At Council on Monday night Administration asked Council to award two tenders for the coming construction season but it was not without at least a few questions about some of the timing.
Council was told Administration wanted to get the process moving quickly to get the contractors on board.
Josh Mickelborough, City Engineer asked Council to approve two contracts totaling just under $3 million in advance of the Budget 2019’s final approval.
At its January 14th meeting Council approved issuing the tenders in an effort to hire contractors early before final budget approval and take advantage of potentially less expensive bids.
SEE RELATED - Council Gives Green Light to Issue Tenders
For Phase 4 of cast iron water main replacement Mickelborough asked for $455,000 to award design work under a Request For Proposal (RFP) under account line WW17 and $2.45 million for TR-1 Paved Roadways. Both contracts would be compliant with City Purchasing and Administrative Bylaws.
The timing of awarding the tender for the design work on the cast iron water main drew some questions from Councilor Brian Swanson as he questioned the timing and how the tender was open for only two or three days.
Councilor Swanson asked if the tenders had already been awarded to which Mickelborough stated the City was still looking at finalizing them.
“(I have a question) one being water main replacement. How long was the tender open for? If I was reading it right it closed on January 16th,” Swanson said, adding the go ahead to issue the tender had only be granted by Council at its January 14th meeting.
“How long had that been tendered for?” Councilor Swanson asked/
Mickelborough responded he “did not know” the specific amount of time the tender had been open.
Swanson replied the tender had been issued January 14th and closed on January 17th.
“We may have issued an RFP at that time contingent on budget,” Mickelborough replied.
Swanson responded “May have?”
He then asked questions about the amount of cast iron water main planned to be replaced this year.
“Do we know how many meters we are tendering for?” Swanson asked. He went on to state the target amount was 3000 meters but it may be less than that amount.
“I don’t have the number off the top of my head,” Mickelborough responded.
Swanson then asked “Have they been awarded?” Going to further ask if they had “why would we have this report here then.”
City Clerk\Solicitor Myron Gulka-Tiechko explained what had happened so far regarding the Phase Four cast iron water main replacement tendering process.
“It’s simply an RFP for design services at this stage,” Gulka-Tiechko explained. The actual awarding of the main contract would come later.
Mayor Fraser Tolmie stated the tenders awarded would be “subject to the City’s purchasing policy.”
In a 6 - 1 vote with Councilor Swanson the lone opponent the Engineering Department got the go ahead to award the two tenders.