County council has approved a contractor to build its new central works garage on County Road 7, just south of Ponsonby.
Council awarded the tender on Nov. 24 to Tambro Construction Ltd., of Guelph, the same company that built the OPP station in Aboyne recently.
Manager of purchasing and risk management services Mark Bolzon told the roads committee on Nov. 8 that nine companies had bid for the work, and Tambro came in the lowest, at $3.92 million. The winning bid is exclusive of HST. The highest bid of the nine was $4.46 million.
The report noted work on the project includes the demolition of the current building and the construction of a 25,500 square foot central garage, including offices, storage and service bay areas.
The work also includes site work for a new parking lot, site services, a new septic field and wells, and site drainage and landscaping.
The successful bid brings the total cost of the project to $5,037,000, up from the original estimate of $4,800,000.
While the contract for construction was within $9,000 and professional fees were within $8,000, the county agreed to add an extra $250,000 for the possibility of having to remove contaminated soil from the site.
The original contingency fund was $391,000, and that has dropped to $280,000.
When it comes to paying for the project, there was $100,000 placed in the 2009 capital budget and the county expects to recoup $85,000 of that from development charges.
The total proposed capital budget for 2012 is $4.93 million, with $628,000 coming from the tax levy, $2.3 million from development charges and another $2 million from the roads capital reserve.
Bolzon noted the final design incorporates the county’s Green Legacy design guidelines and also incorporates structural requirements for a possible future installation of rooftop solar panels.
Bolzon pointed out the tender is being let now for 2012 so the contractor can order ahead all the structural components for immediate construction next year, to ensure the facility will be operational by November of next year for the 2012-13 winter season.
