Rideau Lakes council reversed course on an emergency infrastructure project July 6, rejecting a contract it had approved only minutes earlier and directing staff to issue a new request for proposals after a lengthy debate over procurement rules, engineering deadlines and the project’s revised scope.
The contract before council was valued at $88,923.29, including the township’s share of HST, for repairs to a deteriorating cistern beneath the library floor at the Elgin Municipal Complex. According to the staff report, the revised engineering approach reduced the estimated project cost from $121,000 to $88,923.29, saving the township $32,076.71.
Staff recommended awarding the contract to Peak Contracting Solutions, an Elgin-based company, after engineers determined the original repair plan could be simplified. Rather than removing deteriorated steel beams, engineers approved filling the cistern with Agilia concrete, allowing the township to negotiate a lower price with the original low bidder.
Deputy Mayor Jeff Banks argued the revised work represented a different project and should be put back out for competition.
“This is way over the amount,” he said, referring to the township’s procurement threshold. “I don’t think we should be passing this. I think we should be going to tender.”
CAO Shellee Fournier said the township had already completed a competitive procurement process and that the procurement bylaw permits negotiations with the lowest bidder when circumstances warrant. She also warned staff would not recommend delaying work identified by engineers as a health and safety concern.
Coun. Dustin Bulloch supported proceeding with the contract, saying council needed to follow the engineer’s recommendation.
“We need to get this work done. We need to get it done now,” Bullock said.
Coun. Sue Dunfield said the revised plan amounted to a new project.
“I think it’s only fair that we go back and ask for other companies to take a look at this new project,” she said.
Coun. Debbie Hutchings also supported issuing a new competition.
“This was all changed from the first when it was put out,” she said. “I think it should be retendered to be fair to other businesses.”
Council initially approved the bylaw through first and second reading in a recorded 5-4 vote, with Bulloch, Coun. Linda Carr, Coun. Marcia Maxwell, Coun. Ron Pollard and Mayor Arie Hoogenboom voting in favour. Dunfield, Hutchings, Jeff Banks and Coun. Paula Banks opposed.
It unraveled minutes later during third reading when Carr changed her vote. The bylaw was defeated 5-4, as she joined Dunfield, Hutchings, Jeff Banks and Paula Banks in opposition.
Following the defeat, Jeff Banks introduced a motion directing staff to issue a new RFP reflecting the revised scope of work. Council approved the motion despite repeated warnings from staff that restarting the procurement process could jeopardize the engineer’s recommended Sept. 1 completion date.
Maxwell opposed the move, saying council was “going around in circles” and arguing the township should proceed with the negotiated contract.
Jeff Banks questioned the significance of the engineering timeline.
“It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever that all of a sudden this place is going to fall on Sept. 1 … by this magic date,” he said.
Staff clarified the deteriorating cistern is located beneath the library floor, not beneath the fire hall apparatus bay, after several councillors referred to keeping fire trucks out of the building to reduce loading.
The engineering report recommended completing remediation by Sept. 1 and stated that while the timeline could be extended by limiting floor loads, doing so was not recommended.
Staff will now prepare a new RFP for a new scope of work.
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