After a couple of false starts, council here has awarded the contract for playground equipment at ABC?Park to a St. Clements firm.
Recreation Playsystems – RTS Companies Limited, won the bid to build the park equipment on Andrew Street in Drayton.
Director of Public Works Larry Lynch noted the township had eight bidders, created a short list of three and had those come to the township for three days before choosing the winning bid.
The estimate for the work is $52,000 and Recreation Playsystems was tied for the high bid at exactly $52,000. A Brantford firm beat that offer by only $4.
Lynch said in his report to council, “All three provided excellent proposals and met the budget threshold of $52,000.”
He added, “While all three had various highlights during the interview process, the committee agreed the submission by RTS Companies Inc. best encompassed the issues of accessibility and inclusion in the design, provided an excellent warranty program, featured company installers and provided for easy replacement parts and structure should the need arise.”
Lynch also provided a copy of the park layout for the equipment. He said the township has a 50:50 grant for the work, that council has known about the proposal since last December and that the request for proposals from May stated the selection committee was to proceed with the work.
That committee included Director of Finance Mike Givens, councillor Jim Curry, neighbourhood liaison Heather Clemmer, and himself.
Councillor Mike Downey asked if the proposal had been sent to the parks and recreation committee. Lynch said it had not, since the request for proposals already told the committee to make a recommendation. He noted the committee chairman was on the selection committee.
“We’re trying to get it constructed before school starts in September,” Lynch said.
Downey said that could be “a slap in the face” to the committee members, and “A lot don’t know what’s going on.”
Lynch said he could take the proposal to that committee, but Downey said he did not want to do that. He added the selection committee had “a good feeling of what was wanted,” and did “long interviews” with each of the candidates.
Council then voted 3-0 to approve the contract.
