By Mark Squibb
The Town of Paradise is one step closer to getting a new public works depot to replace the one ruined in a fire last year that also damaged the adjacent town hall.
During last week’s public meeting, councillor Erin Furlong brought forward a recommendation from staff to award an “owner’s advisor contract” to the lowest bidder, WSP E&I Canada Ltd., in the bid amount of $550,633, HST included.
“The owner advisor will support the Town through the design-build, procurement, and construction process, including development of the design-build RFP (request for proposals), technical review, project management oversight, construction monitoring, and commissioning support,” said Furlong.
The Town issued a request for proposals on February 10 seeking an engineering consulting firm to manage the project and received three bids.
Staff evaluated the submissions based on technical and financial merits and awarded each bid a score out of one hundred points. The submissions were weighted based on a 70 percent technical score and 30 percent financial score. Besides being the lowest bidder, WSP E&I was also awarded the highest score of 82.5.
The new depot will be larger than the previous one to accommodate growing municipal operations.
Furlong said she was bringing forward the staff recommendation for a vote without it first having been discussed in committee, because the schedule for completion “is very aggressive.”
Councillor Glen Carew asked whether the contract could be adjusted, or even terminated, if at any point the construction contract were to come back overbudget or if council decided to change course.
Furlong said that to her understanding, council would not be on the hook for the entirety of the contract should they opt out.
“We would pay for the work that was done, and likely a fee for cancelling the contract,” she said.
Councillor Sheldon Antle noted that despite having a higher overall score, the winning firm had a slightly lower technical score than the other two bidders. He wondered whether that was something council ought to be concerned about.
Furlong said there was no concern in that regard as all three applicants met the minimum technical requirements.
Antle also queried as to how the project would be kept on budget and on time.
Furlong said a robust procurement and cost control framework was being applied to keep the project within budget, such as negotiation phases following the awarding of the design-build contract and during construction.
The design-build contract is expected to be tendered within six months.
Put to a vote, council voted unanimously to move ahead with the contract.
Meanwhile, the Town has leased a location in Mount Pearl to serve as a temporary public works headquarters at a cost of $31,625, HST included, per month.
