Gananoque postpones stormwater management plan
Gananoque council has postponed consideration of a contract for the town’s stormwater master plan.
At council’s Tuesday, Sept. 17 meeting, members opted to postpone the matter to the next regular council meeting scheduled for Oct. 1.
The primary purpose of the master plan is to provide a current state of the town’s stormwater system and a logical, pragmatic path forward to manage, maintain, and operate it.
But council voiced its concerns over the process and didn’t want to rush its decision.
“Council had a couple of questions about the process and previous maps available but the manager of public works was unable to attend, so it was deferred to obtain more clarification,” said Deputy Mayor Vicki Leakey.
“There was nothing that indicated waiting two weeks would be an issue.”
So, in a motion moved by Coun. Anne-Marie Koiner, seconded by Coun. Patrick Kirkby, council unanimously postponed its decision.
In his report to council, public works manager David Armstrong says new provincial regulations, paired with a historical shortfall of maintenance and resources, are the driving force behind moving this forward.
As part of the 2024 capital budget, public works staff proceeded with the request for proposals to have a consultant complete a stormwater management master plan.
The public works department released the request for proposals on July 22, which closed on Sept. 5. There were six bids received at the time of closing. Three companies submitted complete proposals, while the other three did not include signed addenda.
A list of submissions at the time of closing were as follows: Aquafor Beech Ltd. ($142,285.92), Arcadis Canada Inc. ($110,435.04), Engage Engineering ($169,107.82), JL Richards and Associates Ltd. ($96,722.88), Jp2g Consultants Inc. ($140,189.66), and KGS Group ($135,008.05).
Town staff is recommending having J.L. Richards and Associates Ltd. complete this work for the town, despite its being one of the three proponents having not submitted the signed and acknowledged addenda for this RFP.
It was reported to council that they have since submitted them to the town and were the lowest bidder, providing the town a savings of approximately $13,712.16.