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Two Elliot Lake neighborhoods set for upgrades

They say better late than never and that's the case for upgrades for a pair of local neighborhoods
RoadRepair
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People living on Valley Crescent and Hemlock Place in Elliot Lake are about to see their tax dollars in action close to home this year.

After delaying capital improvements on both streets last year, looking for lower contractor bids, members of Elliot Lake City Council were disappointed it didn't happen, when they approved the construction contract at their meeting on Monday.

Last fall (2018) the city put out a request for proposals on a major project involving new watermains, sewers, sidewalks, curbs and pavements estimating it would cost 2 million dollars. The lowest bid last fall was $1.4 million more than the money set aside. The idea was to re-call for tenders for summer work this year, in search of a better deal for the taxpayers. 

The lowest project bidder this time out, JI Enterprises of Blind River, was awarded the contract at a price of $3,862,555 (including HST). The Blind River contractor was the lowest of five bidders. The highest bid was from Beamish Construction of Elliot Lake at $4,416,666. The other three bidders were all from Sudbury and Chelmsford. All the bids were solicited in December and January.

According to Darryl Halloch, Elliot Lake's public works manager,  Belanger of Chelmsford, submitted a bid $200,000 higher than in the original bidding process, for the same work.  He said, "the scope of the work has not been changed in any material way."

Mr. Halloch said about $100,000 could be saved by removing the asphalt in chunks and storing it, rather than by milling it immediately to make it ready for re-use. 

JI Enterprises, founded in 1977, has eight employees year-round and as many as 30, each summer. In its bid are three sub-contractors. Beamish will supply the asphalt, Bottano Construction of North Bay will handle curbs and gutters and Insituform of Hamilton will look after sewer linings.

Councillor Tom Turner asked Mr. Halloch to find out if any contractor could handle the milling work in a slow period. Mr Halloch said typically that work is billed for an hourly basis. Councillor Ed Pearce said delaying the milling might amount to false economy, since the work will be need to be done before the material can be re-used, anyway.

Councillor Chris Patrie said, "my issue is that we put this project off for a year. We went from winter construction to summer and we haven't actually saved any money."

He added the city could run into this situation again, "if our numbers have doubled in one year."

Mayor Dan Marchisella asked if any savings would be possible by bundling the contract work with repairs to Hillside North, "to fix the dip in the pavement by the fire hall and the other higher up near Jack Leggers."

Mr. Halloch said that would amount to a patch job since it wouldn't solve the problems with the underlying road. He said, "the problem is further up where the water is being diverted."

The Elliot Lake infrastructure project on Valley Crescent and Hemlock Place is set to begin in June and wrap up 20 weeks later, next October.



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About the Author: Brent Sleightholm

As a reporter, Brent has covered everything from amateur and professional sports, to politics, entertainment, police and courts, to human interest stories and government issues
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