Wellington North’s municipal office in Kenilworth is going to be renovated in 2017 at a cost of $214,000.
Council awarded the tender to Domm Construction Ltd. at the March 13 council meeting.
“I think it’s a good choice, I think Dom Construction is a relatively local company they’ve completed the initial renovation here in 1999,” said councillor Dan Yake.
The township received five tenders ranging from $198,400 to $352,000 and did not choose the lowest bid, from Vin General Contracting Inc. (VGC).
Staff said in a report VGC “did provide references with a good recommendation, however they were somewhat vague on the work completed and the project value.”
Mayor Andy Lennox said it was “unorthodox” to not award the tender to the lowest bidder, but the township, “would soon spend the difference in cost if we had delays.”
The other bids were:
– $214,000 from Domm Construction Ltd;
– $246,895 from Jackman General Construction;
– $253,000 from MJK Construction; and
– $352,000 from Al Langman Construction.
The renovation project encompasses the entire office and council chambers, but there will be no addition or building expansion, said chief building official Darren Jones.
‘The scope of the project includes improving accessibility and customer service, creating one main reception area, repairing ongoing plumbing issues, reworking interior walls to make better use of space and updating flooring and spacing.
CAO Michael Givens said the renovation would require administration staff to vacate the building and move into the Mount Forest and District Sports Complex.
“We’ll gear up for that and provide lots of information in terms of how that’s going to work,” he said.
Will be challenges
“There will be challenges as it relates to IT and telephones, but we will try to work those out to the best of our ability so it’s not that disruptive … as anybody who’s been through a renovation knows, it will be disruptive, but we’ll do our best.”
Givens added council meetings during the renovation period would also have to be relocated and would likely take place at the Mount Forest Sports complex.
The work on the municipal office is expected to take eight weeks and be completed by mid July.
