Sewer upgrades on Cheam Avenue could be underway by the summer.
In 2014, the District of Kent decided that the 200mm sanitary main line on Cheam Avenue, between Evergreen Drive and Park Street, would need to be upgraded to a 450mm main and the manhole at Cheam and Evergreen would need to be replaced. The sewer upgrade is expected to take five weeks, with repaving underway by late summer, and cost around $726,000.
On Monday night (March 8), Kent council began moving forward with that project, and voted to award a $57,901 contract to Onsite Engineering Ltd. to oversee the construction.
Staff recommended that Onsite be given the bid despite not being the lowest bidder. That was ISL Engineering, which bid $51,126 to manage the project. Staff made their recommendation based on a scoring chart that looks at past performance, the work schedule, the methodology, the completeness of the proposal and the cost. Onsite and ISL scored 42.5 and 42 points respectively.
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Coun. Stan Watchorn expressed concern during the meeting that staff weren’t considering the lowest bidder, particularly as the scores were so close.
“We are expecting contractors to put in their best bid,” he said. “If we don’t take the best bid for a difference of point five, I’m concerned contractors will stop bidding.”
Director of Engineering Services Mick Thiessen said that Onsite was preferred because of their ideas on how to eliminate bypass pumping for the sewer main, and reducing traffic disruptions on the busy road. Onsite also estimated they would spend 457 hours on the project, the highest of the three bids.
Watchorn moved to award the contract to ISL instead, but that motion failed.
The contract will be going to Onsite for $57,901 to for the design and tendering of the project, as well as the inspection and oversight.
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