West 麻豆精选 council has 鈥榬eluctantly鈥� approved a contract to build a second emergency exit for the Casa Loma neighbourhood.
The reluctance stemmed from the project being over budget and what several councillors said were 鈥榗onfusing鈥� budget documents.
The original estimate was $995,000, however, the city received only one bid for the project at $1.186 million.
Council was also asked to approve an additional $180,000 for contingency, archaeological monitoring and geotechnical investigation, bringing the total cost to $1.366 million.
鈥淲e thought we could encode that all within that $1 million budget but at the end of the day it wasn鈥檛 possible,鈥� Stacey Harding, operations and projects manager told council.
Coun Rick de Jong asked staff if delaying and re-tendering the project would attract more bids.
鈥淧ersonally I wouldn鈥檛 think we would get much more interest, obviously the market can change, that鈥檚 out of our control,鈥� said Rob Hillis, engineering manager.
Mayor Gord Milsom, while not pleased with the increase, said a delay may drive up the price further.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more costly than what we thought it would be, but that鈥檚 the tender that came in and I鈥檇 be concerned if it was higher in a few months from now.鈥�
Councillors were also concerned as to why there was only one bid for the project.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a general result of market conditions, Hillis explained. 鈥淭here is a lot of work still out there and there鈥檚 only so many contractors that are capable of delivering this type of work.鈥�
There were two bidders interested in the project, he added.
鈥淪taff was happy that we got a fair market price it was just a bit higher than we originally estimated at budget time.鈥�
Coun. Stephen Johnston noted the city needs to do better in attracting multiple bidders for projects.
鈥淲hether it鈥檚 the timing, tender documents not being as detailed or complete as they should be, whether it鈥檚 a bad reputation, we have to figure out what鈥檚 going on and fix that issue.鈥�
An emergency exit route has long been a safety concern for residents at Casa Loma Lakeshore Resort, as Campbell Road is their only exit in the event of an evacuation.
The new route, which will double as a multi-use path, will be approximately 500 metres long, 3.5 metres wide.
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