Highest sidewalk repair bid was 5 times the winner
Highest sidewalk repair bid was 5 times the winner
Councillors express surprise at the huge range
A staff report about sidewalk repairs left several Trent Hills councillors shaking their heads in amazement during their meeting on Thursday, April 25. They were dumbfounded by the wide variation among 13 bids from contractors to perform sidewalk repairs this season.
The cheapest bid was one-fifth the cost of the most expensive.
Council approved a bid from JT Concrete Ltd. of Belle River, ON to do this work for $116,319. Its bid was $30,000 lower than the second lowest bid of $145,932 from Mighty Lawn Ltd. of Brampton and a whopping $479,292 lower than the highest of the 13 bids.
Jeffrey G. Wallans Construction Limited of Brighton offered to do the work for $595,611, more than five times the winning bid.
“The range is truly amazing,” said Councillor Rick English.
Councillor Daniel Giddings asked whether there was any concern about the low bidder’s work and whether they had bid on the full amount of work.
Preston Parkinson, Assistant Manager, Technical Services, said the work was clearly set out in the bidding documents and he had checked references from two municipalities and a university where the company had done work, and they were all glowing.
“Amazing to see such a range,” said Mayor Bob Crate as he called the vote on the contract.
No one said, “Start the car, start the car” but Parkinson did tell council the contract would be signed in a few hours and left the meeting soon after.
The sidewalk repair program is part of the annual capital budget. In addition to the repair contract, the municipality will spend $40,000 to purchase tactile plates.
Most event permits will remain free
Councillors have rejected a staff recommendation that activities that require a special events permit be charged $150 to cover the cost of staff time needed to process the requests.
Last November, a staff report recommended that events with free admission be charged $150 and paid-admission events be charged $750.
Council referred the request to the Community Development Advisory Committee. That committee held a long discussion of the issue in a meeting chaired by Deputy Mayor Mike Metcalf.
In the end, the committee recommended free events expected to attract fewer than 1,000 be exempt from any fee. It recommended the paid-admission events that have required an exhibition licence be charged $500.
A report noted that only two events usually require exhibition licences — the Warkworth Music Fest and the Crooks Rapids Country Fest. They have paid $300 in the past.
Councillors Rick English and Dennis Savery objected to the increase in those fees to $500 from $300 and did not vote in favour of the new policy.
Council urges Ontario to boost homeless spending
Trent Hills council has passed the same resolution that Northumberland County recently did asking Ontario to increase its funding for programs to support the homeless.
Other municipalities in the county and across the province are supporting the resolution as well.
Mayor Bob Crate, who also sits on county council, noted that social services at this level are the responsibility of the county. He said he was pleased that the county is developing 310 Division St. in Cobourg as a homeless centre but said the county needs twice was many spots.
“I hope that 310 will be an asset that will give people some hope,” Crate said.
I asked Crate about the Cockburn St. home that I wrote about last week which has been vacant for more than a year. He said the county’s planned deal for the CMHA to operate the home foundered on the issue of which organization would pay for insurance.
“The county is actively trying to find someone now to operate the home,” he said.