Kincardine council

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Kincardine council has granted approval for staff to negotiate a purchase price to keep the cost of the Connaught Park accessible washrooms within the $300,000 budget.

In committee-of-the-whole, clerk Donna MacDougall explained that the project was approved under the federal/provincial Infrastructure Stimulus Fund program to create a new freestanding washroom facility plus renovations to the washrooms and kitchen area in the agricultural hall.

Two submissions were received through a call for proposals, but neither was complete nor compliant with the requirements set out by the municipality, said MacDougall.

Staff is recommending that this project be moved to the negotiated purchases process because there is an issue with either contractor securing the required bonds or letters of credit under the municipality's purchasing and procurement policy. There will also have to be substantial modifications to the plans to bring the costs within budget, said MacDougall.

She told council that the project is over-budget right now if the municipality were to forge ahead and build the new washrooms and renovate the existing hall.

"If we negotiate with the contractor, we could come up under the $300,000," she said. "The project deadline is March of next year, so we still have lots of time."

She said both the new construction and renovations are part of the entire project. "If we can't do both, at least we'll do half of it and make the area more accessible," she said.

Chief building official Michele Barr said the proposed freestanding washroom building will be 884 square feet in size, including the unisex accessible washroom, canteen and storage area, and a 516-square-foot covered patio. The building will be located east of the middle ball field and will be under site plan control.

Mayor Larry Kraemer asked what the impact was in moving the washrooms to a different site from the current location.

"There's $5,000 for water and sewer and $4,000 for hydro," said MacDougall. "Municipal staff can do the demolition (of the existing washroom building) so we can eliminate that cost."

She hopes to have a negotiated purchase figured out by the June 16 council meeting.

Council approved the negotiated process and the site plan for the project.

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Sunday, June 13, 2010