If there are any unexpected costs in the construction of the new Bond Head water tower, the engineers will have to come back to Council and ask for the money.
Councillors refused to increase the budget for “contingencies” by $650,000, which would have brought the total cost of the project to nearly $11 million.
Deputy Mayor James Leduc was outraged that the tendering process produced only one bid, and that steel tariffs and a lower Canadian dollar were cited as reasons for an increase in costs.
“How do I know this is a competitive bid?” Leduc asked, noting that the federal government “is paying the tariff at the border,” off-setting the increased cost, and wondering if the request was “double dipping.”
Leduc said, “I got one bid to look at. We’ve got to go back and re-tender.”
Manager of Capital Projects, Mahesh Ramdeo explained that two companies prequalified to bid on the massive water tower that will provide water for fire suppression in Bond Head and the Highway 400 employment lands. However, only one – Landmark Structures Co. - submitted a bid.
Construction of this type of elevated water tower is “very, very specialized. It’s just the nature of this particular kind of work,” he said.
The Town’s Chief Administrative Officer, Geoff McKnight, told council that Landmark’s bid was competitive. He said the company had not expected to be the sole bidder. He also noted the bid was still within the project’s budget, but had increased to eat up most of the $800,000 set aside for contingencies.
The request for additional funding came not from the bidder, but from management, to make up the lost contingency fund. However, McKnight acknowledged, “It’s entirely possible it won’t be needed.”
“Chop that out and hope we come in on budget,” suggested Coun. Gary Baynes.
“It’s a design-build. We should have flexibility,” agreed Leduc, arguing the engineers could find efficiencies in their design. “Award the tender. If we need more (money) we’ll certainly look at it.”
“If the need arises for additional funds, we’d report back to council, at that time or at budget time,” McKnight said.
“Then we’ll deal with it at that time,” Leduc said, as council received the report.