CHANTRY — Rideau Lakes council has approved a joint agreement with Elizabethtown-Kitley and Goldie Mohr Ltd. to replace the Townline Bridge over Hutton Creek at a cost of nearly a quarter-million dollars to the township.
At its Sept. 2 regular meeting, council authorized a bylaw for a tri-party agreement with Elizabethtown-Kitley Township and the contractor, awarding the tender to Goldie Mohr Ltd. for $491,000 to complete the Townline Bridge replacement. Rideau Lakes’ 50 per cent share comes to $245,500 plus HST, for a total of $249,820.80.
Council also approved a project management agreement with engineering firm TSI Inc., which will oversee the build and ensure compliance with Rideau Valley Conservation Authority requirements.
Additional costs include $29,548 already spent on engineering and preliminary design work this year, plus an estimated $101,200 in engineering fees and $50,000 set aside for contingencies. The township’s estimated total share is $430,569.36 for the Townline Bridge project, well within the $600,000 budgeted for the project. Six bids were received by the July 15 deadline, ranging from $491,000 to $1.13 million. Goldie Mohr was the lowest bidder.
Coun. Dustin Bulloch questioned the spread between the lowest and highest bids for the Townline Bridge contract. “The lowest price being so much lower than everything else kind of raised a red flag in my mind as to whether there is something missing … it just seems to be way off,” he said.
CAO Shellee Fournier noted the significant difference between the top and bottom bids, as she verified the information as she too thought it was quite low.
“We were told to budget $1.2 million, and you can see that could have been a price, but obviously, very competitive pricing came in, which is giving us a lot of room here. So what council is approving is awarding it to Goldie Mohr, which was the cheapest of the six.”
Fournier said both municipalities’ engineers had reviewed the submission. “I asked Dan (Chant, roads and drainage manager) the exact same question,” she said. “He indicated that the engineers in both townships have looked at it and the Goldie Mohr submission is good. We don’t see any issues with it. The understanding is that they’re underbidding to get a lot of work. They do have an excellent reputation.”
Council voted unanimously to approve the agreement. Elizabethtown-Kitley Township is passing a matching bylaw, allowing the two municipalities to move ahead in tandem with the Townline Bridge replacement.
The final RVCA permit has not yet been issued, though staff advised approval is expected. With a November 10 completion deadline, staff urged immediate approval to keep the project on schedule.
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