Weyburn’s city council passed a pair of contract bids on Monday evening, in a tender to install new pedestrian ramps and a new sidewalk on Fifth Street, but first had a long discussion about using a local contractor as opposed to ones from out-of-town.
The contract tender first came up at the March 22 council meeting, and administration had recommended going with two out-of-town companies. The lowest bid was from a local company, A&B Concrete Ltd., but the tender did not include the information that the city required as part of the bid.
The project is install new pedestrian ramps in 18 locations at nine intersections around the city, along with installing a new sidewalk in front of the new Legacy Park Elementary School on Fifth Street.
At the March 22 meeting, Coun. Mel Van Betuw felt that the city should go with the low bid from A&B Concrete, even though the bid was incomplete. He noted that the City has used this firm before and they know their work, so they should be able to make an exception to the tender requirements.
Some councillors were inclined to agree, but a concern was expressed that the city could look bad to bidding companies if they showed favouritism to a local company, and the city could be held legally liable if they didn’t hold to their own policy for awarding tenders.
The contract was tabled to Monday night’s meeting, and the legal requirements of the city’s policy was spelled out by city engineer Jennifer Wilkinson.
The contractors are required to provide information including a statement of project understanding, schedules for project delivery, a completed bid form, key contact personnel, a description of previous experience on related projects, and references for previous projects of a similar scope.
Commenting on the issue on Monday night, Coun. Van Betuw said, “I don’t really think this is a matter of right or wrong. I think there is leniency in the RFP.”
He pointed out in the language of the policy, it doesn’t explicitly say that a contractor will be disqualified from the bid, but that they could be.
“It’s a matter of being fair, giving them the benefit of the doubt. I don’t think this would put the city in a bad light by not making consideration for a local contractor,” he said, adding that giving a contract to a local company helps them employ local people who pay taxes and shop in local stores.
Coun. Jeff Richards said he doesn’t disagree with Coun. Van Betuw, but he felt torn on the issue because the City does have a policy with certain requirements in place, and wanted direction from administration on how they should proceed.
City manager Mathew Warren said in their estimation, the company was disqualified as they didn’t meet the requirements of the tender, but ultimately the decision is up to city council as to who to award the bid to.
Coun. John Corrigan said he felt for what Coun. Van Betuw was saying about supporting local contractors, but there are policies in place. He suggested if the policy needs to be reworked or reworded, he would be happy to be involved in that process, but as the policy stands now, they need to follow what is in place.
In the end, council voted 6-1 on both parts of the tender, giving the contract for the pedestrian ramps to North Star Concrete in the amount of $45,792, and sidewalk on Fifth Street was awarded to RGM Contracting in the amount of $96,661. Coun. Van Betuw was the dissenting vote for both parts.
The pedestrian ramps will be installed at King Street and Fifth Avenue North; at Elks Park on Douglas Road; on Fifth Street and Douglas Road; Rick Smith Crescent and Douglas Road; 13th Street and Brimacombe Drive; 13th Street and Staveley Crescent, on the north and south corners; 13th Street and Park Avenue; and 13th Street and First Avenue North.
