North America Construction awarded Erin wastewater treatment plant project
The Town of Erin has finally awarded the contract for construction of its wastewater treatment plant.
Council announced on March 24 that it had awarded the project to North America Construction for $114 million. The company’s bid was the lower of two received by the town. Bennett Mechanical Installations also bid on the work.
This project has been in the making for a very long time and I am delighted to see it move forward,” said Mayor Allan Alls. “This is the single largest infrastructure project ever undertaken by the town. While growth is inevitable, this is a key infrastructure project that will help us grow in a sustainable and responsible manner.”
Getting to the project award wasn’t easy. Although the town prequalified five companies for the bid in December, that wasn’t the first time the bid process stalled.
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.
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.
The project is the largest ever tendered by the Town of Erin, and the entire project budget will be paid through development charges.
“This was a highly technical and stringent tender and we are satisfied with the quality of bids received,” said Director of Infrastructure Services Nick Colucci. “The process was not easy and extremely time-consuming as we had to clarify numerous technical details. But we wanted to get it right and are now happy to be able to move on to the next stage of the project.”
The town expects to break ground on the plant early in the new year. The facility should then be operational in early 2024.