Weyburn city council passed a number of tenders for the City, but delayed one project when council wanted to change a tender to a local company, at their meeting on March 22.
The City had a two-part tender, for the installation of accessible pedestrian ramps at various locations around Weyburn, and for the installation of a sidewalk in front of the new school and recreation-culture centre on Fifth Street.
After reviewing the proposals submitted for these two projects, with a weighted ranking of the bids based on a number of factors, the city engineering department were going to award the pedestrian ramps project to North Star Concrete for $45,792, and the new sidewalk on Fifth Street to RGM Contracting, for a bid of $96,661.
Coun. Mel Van Betuw questioned why the low bids for both projects, from Weyburn business A&B Concrete, was not chosen.
Engineer Jennifer Wilkinson explained there were six requirements in the project proposals, including scheduling, understanding of the project, references and previous projects, and A&B Concrete did not submit this information. The administration had to go with the information provided as was required.
Coun. Van Betuw noted that A&B had done work for the city before, and their work was satisfactory.
“I can’t say why it wasn’t submitted. It was clearly indicated that we needed the information to make sure we had a fair and accurate process,” said Wilkinson.
The councillor wanted to make an amendment to the motion awarding the tender, to change it to A&B Concrete.
“If they didn’t send the information we need, I don’t think it’s fair to the other bidders,” noted Coun. Laura Morrissette.
Coun. Dick Michel agreed, saying the city would “working on a slippery slope here” if they just changed how a tender was awarded, particularly when they did not meet the requirements of the bid for submitting information.
After it was noted the city could be sued for acting in this way, the project was tabled to the next council meeting, on April 12.
• In other council business, Weyburn company Prairie Lightning Electric was awarded the contract to replace the air handling unit and rooftop unit for the Weyburn Leisure Centre, to be done while the outdoor pool is open this summer.
The replacements are necessary as the current equipment is experiencing mechanical issues, and is considered obsolete and beyond its useful life cycle.
The City received five proposals, and four were eligible for the bid criteria. After a full bid assessment by HDA Engineering Consultants and City staff, Prairie Lightning was selected with a bid of $291,979, the lowest of the bids.
• The City awarded a bid for buying a new pothole patch truck for Public Works, to replace the current method of patching potholes with cold mix.
City engineer Wilkinson explained a pothole patch truck works much better, as it pulls up to the pothole, cleans out the hole and puts hot asphalt in to seal it properly. The asphalt can work at temperatures down to -15.
The truck chosen is a 2022 Freightliner with Thermo-Lay, at a price of $290,443, from Fer-Marc Equipment.
• Council approved extending the date for the completion of the City’s assessment roll to May 31, as the City has not yet received the data they need from SAMA to send out the tax notices.
“Usually we receive the numbers by the end of March or early April. By legislation, we need to extend this date,” said finance director Laura Missal, noting this happens almost every year.
