Township council has awarded the contract for design and administration of construction of a water tower for Drayton to R.J. Burnside and Associates Consulting Engineers.
At the Feb. 13 meeting, council waived the township’s procurement procedure and authorized staff to contract Burnside to do the work for $459,000.
In a staff report, public works director Sam Mattina indicated sole sourcing the engineering assignment to Burnside will result in significant time savings in implementing and completing this project. Following the regular procurement process would take approximately three months, Mattina estimated.
“This will be eliminated,” he stated, noting Burnside has already submitted a quotation for the design and contract administration of the water tower and are prepared begin work immediately.
“With developers anxiously waiting to build houses and with the existing community currently not having adequate fire (hydrant) flows, it is strongly recommended that this work be expedited,” the report states.
Since 1992, Mattina said Burnside has “gained substantive knowledge of Drayton infrastructure and is well-qualified” to undertake the assignment. “This knowledge and background foundation translates into a significant decreased amount of effort for Burnside, which means a cost savings in the design budget for the township,” he added in the report.
Contract administration and inspection, at $331,000 makes up the bulk of the project price, with $108,000 projected for preliminary design, detailed design and tender preparation. Support through the tender period and warranty administration and inspection make up the remaining $20,000 in the fee proposal.
The project schedule calls for tenders to be issued in August, with construction expected to commence this September and be completed by July of 2019.
Mattina’s report notes the Drayton water system currently services about 2,495 people and is projected to service a population of 4,300 people by 2041 as projected in a 2016 Municipal Class Environmental Assessment, or 3,990 people as projected by the Wellington County Planning Department.
“Using either population projection, the need for the alternative water solution was made evident,” the report states.
There was no discussion on a resolution to award the contract, which was approved unopposed.
The township’s 2018 budget, approved in January, allocates $3 million for a water tower.
