ERIN – After no bids were received for the construction of the Erin wastewater treatment plant in August, council here is making a second attempt.
On Dec. 7, council approved the pre-qualification of five contractors to submit bids for the project.
“The wastewater plant adheres to some of the most stringent regulations, and we have to ensure that it’s done properly and in keeping with all requirements of the approved environment assessment.,” Mayor Allan Alls stated in a press release.
“We are looking forward to moving this project forward.”
At the meeting council received a report from director of infrastructure services Nick Colucci on awarding pre-qualification for the second time for the controversial plant.
In August, all three of the contractors Erin had prequalified to submit bids to construct the plant didn’t making a submission before the closing deadline.
Town staff, along with project consultant WSP, prepared a revised pre-qualification bid that was posted to the town’s website on Oct. 18 and closed Nov. 22, with a total of six submissions.
Of the six, the town approved five, two of which – Maple Reinders Construction Ltd. and Bennett Mechanical Installations Ltd. – were prequalified the first time around.
“Those packages were reviewed by staff and by our consultant and there was a number of criteria they were assessed toward, and we are recommending that we go to tender for the five contractors listed,” Colucci said.
The report notes the pre-qualification process was not based on the lowest cost bid, but on qualitative evaluation.
The list of prequalified contractors includes:
- Bennett Mechanical Installations Ltd.;
- Graham Construction and Engineering LP;
- Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd.;
- North America Construction Ltd; and
- ASCO Construction Ltd.
“This is the second time we’ve been through this process,” councillor Michael Robins noted.
“The process appears to be good, but last time we got no bids so there must have been reasons for those no bids.”
He asked Colucci if staff have amended this bid process, also asking about the implications the last tender process would have on the new request for proposal.
“Have we amended the bid process to accommodate those requirements and if so what, if any, risks are we taking on that we didn’t have in the previous bid process?”
Colucci replied staff have amended the pre-qualification document to ensure the process was more open, in addition to reducing some of the requirements in the initial document to ensure the town received a greater number of contractors looking at it.
He added the town’s consultant has also been working on amending the tender document and drawings to respond to all the questions they received during the first tender process.
“I think we’ve addressed all those requirements on the new tender document and one of the things was we’re going to have a longer tender period this time,” he explained.
“We’ve changed the schedule in the tender document, which was one of the main things, and we also looked at some of the risks that were asked of the contractors to take with respect to receiving approvals.”
Councillor John Brennan asked if staff could add some explanation around the evaluation criteria and the ratings for the tenders.
“I’m assuming that we didn’t just pull this out of a hat,” he stated. “Obviously, it’s based on something.”
Colucci explained staff looks at a number of criteria, including the company profile, its financial viability, the experience and the management team.
“This is a large project for the town and it’s also a sort of rare project because there’s not many greenfield wastewater treatment plants being constructed so we look at their ability to construct such a project,” he added.
To view the full report, visit the town’s website.
