Renfrew council awards $4.37 million for O’Brien Road and roundabout construction

Renfrew – Despite some opposition towards the installation of a new roundabout in Renfrew, town council has awarded a $4,373,744 contract to Thomas Cavanagh Construction for construction of O’Brien Road (Mask to Wrangler) including a roundabout.

During the May 14 meeting, council voted 5-2 in favour of accepting staff’s recommendation.

The project was already included in the 2024 capital budget in the amount of $6 million, including non-refundable HST and the town has been approved for $3 million in funding from the province through the Connecting Links program.

Although nine tender packages were picked up, only two bids were submitted: Bonnechere Excavating Inc. (BEI) - $4,065,673.74 excluding contingency and HST, and Cavanagh - $3,907,361.91 excluding contingency and HST.

The town enlisted the services of Jp2g to referee the tendering process and their evaluation and scoring of the bids resulted in a recommendation that Cavanagh be awarded the contract based not only on the lower bid, but the firm has had good experience with the town and has provided a good level of service on past projects. The Cavanagh bid was $564,573 lower than BEI, representing a savings of about 13 per cent on the overall costs.

Debenture Worries Councillors

Since the scathing Ma-te-Way Third Party Review was released in March, council has been apprehensive about entering into any long-term financing projects. The report highlighted an impending 30-year debenture agreement that will be required for the town to make good on the $17 million shortfall in construction costs for the 96,000 square foot expansion project. The town entered into agreements with some contractors without specific conditions in relation to cost overruns and which party is ultimately responsible to make up any shortfalls.

One of the recommendations of the review was for town staff to attempt to enter any future contracts as a fixed price agreement that lays out the areas of responsibilities for both parties when it comes to overages and unexpected costs and which party is responsible in the event any additional costs are needed in excess of the 10 per cent contingency amount.

Councillor Andrew Dick said he was not in favour of debenturing another $4.3 million on top of an already high debt load the town will be responsible for.

“Do we need a roundabout? Yes we do, but do we need it now? From what I am hearing on the street is that the majority of the public doesn’t want it,” he said. “I am going to go with what the taxpayers want in life right now. They don’t want the roundabout right now so I am not going to vote in favour of this tonight.”

Councillor Kyle Cybulski asked Andrea Bishop, the town’s Manager of Engineering and Asset Management, to confirm if the contract awarded to Cavanagh is a fixed contract, meaning the costs are set and any overages will be assumed by the company and not the town.

She confirmed the contract is a fixed contract.

Both CAO Robert Tremblay and Treasurer Charlene Jackson explained to council the original budget was set at $6 million. The drawings and plans submitted by the partnership of Jp2g and Bytown Inc. outline the scope of construction and those plans cost approximately $500,000. With the submitted Cavanagh bid of $4.37 million added to the Jp2g fee of $500,000 the overall cost of the project, including a 10 per cent contingency, will bring the total cost to approximately $5 million, a full $1 million below the estimated budget.

“This is good news,” Mr. Tremblay said. “We are in the range of $5 million which is about $1 million under and maybe we are getting back to pre-COVID construction costs.”

Ms. Jackson explained to council she was unsure if the Connecting Links commitment of $3 million will still be the contribution. The province made the $3 million commitment based on an original budget of $6 million. She said it may come down to a 50/50 cost share in which case the contribution from Connecting Links would be reduced to approximately $2.5 million to match the town’s contribution of $2.5 million. She said exact contribution amounts will be confirmed in early June, but she informed council that if all numbers remain the same, the maximum amount of debenture costs to the town would be in the area of $2.5 and not $4 million.

She added the roundabout is funded through the Connecting Links program and when the town submitted an application for O’Brien Road construction in 2023, the project was included in both the 2023 and 2024 budgets.

“This is the final award to get the project underway and we have already spent money ($500,000 to Jp2g) and if this fails then we have to go back out to design and if council doesn’t want a roundabout then all of those costs will be borne by us,” she said.

Reeve Peter Emon added the town has a very successful relationship with MTO staff over the years and that has resulted in several successful awards and it might be difficult to have future successful applications if the current $3 million is rejected by council.

When Mayor Tom Sidney called for a vote, Councillors Dick and John McDonald voted against with Mayor Sidney, Reeve Emon and Councillors Cybulski, Jason Legris and Clint McWhirter voting in favour.

No exact date was given for the start of construction work to begin at the intersection of O’Brien and Mask Road (set of lights to the Tourist Information Centre) to Whitton Road (last turn-off before the intersection of O’Brien Road and Highway 17).

Bruce McIntyre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eganville Leader