If at first you don’t succeed…

The Town of Erin is trying one more time to get its wastewater treatment plant built.

The town announced on December 10 that it has prequalified five companies for its $120-million Erin Water Resource Recovery Facility project. Invited to bid are Bennett Mechanical Installations, Graham Construction and Engineering, Maple Reinders Constructors, North American Construction Ltd., and ASCO Construction (Toronto) Ltd.

Mayor Allan Alls said the town is looking forward to starting work on the project.

“This is one of the largest infrastructure projects being undertaken by the town,” he said. “The wastewater plant adheres to some of the most stringent regulations and we have to ensure that it’s done properly and in keeping with all requirements of the approved environment assessment.”

This isn’t the first time Erin has started the procurement process for the plant. Last summer, the town prequalified three firms to bid on the work, only to have none of the qualified companies submit bids for the project at tender time. The town launched a second pre-qualification process in October.

At the time the first tender was cancelled, the town was tight-lipped about why none of the contractors bid on the work. Local publication GuelphToday submitted a Freedom of Information request to the town in the fall asking for copies of correspondences issued to the town by the Ontario General Contractors Association explaining why none of the prequalified firms bid on the project.

Town clerk Lisa Campion later said the town would not grant access to those records until after the project was awarded, on the grounds of compromising the economic interests of the bidders and the town.

“Premature disclosure would affect the three pre-qualified bidders as potential (new) bidders would be aware of issues that they may be able to use to their advantage during the new bidding process — this would have a direct impact on the competitive position of the three pre-qualified bidders … it would also prejudice the economic interests of the town as disclosure may impact the number of bids the town receives,” she wrote in an email to GuelphToday.

If the current procurement goes ahead as planned, the town should be able to break ground on the water treatment plant early in the new year. The facility should then be operational in early 2024.