Staff presented a report to Huntsville Council at its January 29 meeting with a recommendation to approve the installation of the donated washroom for River Mill Park at location 1 (noted in the map above).
Brandon Hall, Civil Engineering Technologist for the Town, told council that a soil test had been conducted on location 8 and it came back clean. “So there’s nothing in the ground that … is worrisome for that type of project,” he told council. He said staff moved forward with the tendering process for the installation of the washroom in either site 1 or 8. Hall said staff received eight bids ranging from $92,000 – $367,000.
“We reviewed the bids. We put them through a ranking and we’re proposing location 1,” he said. According to Hall’s report, the recommended location would cost an estimated $171,445.50 versus $160,148.2 for location 8. He said location 1 was chosen because it is closer to the children’s playground, it enables the retention of open space within the park and no further tree removal would be required.
He gave the breakdown for the preferred site 1 location as follows:
![](https://media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2024/01/location-1.jpg)
Hall also proposed a 50 per cent contingency in the price. “By putting in the contingency [it]allows us to proceed with the project through change orders, if we have to, without coming back to council but a contractor is not entitled to that contingency unless it’s through a change of order signed by both the contractor and the Town, just so we fully understand how that works,” he said.
Councillors said they were much happier with the price and hoped the contingency fund would not be required.
In his report, Hall also noted that, if approved, the cost could be offset by an accessibility grant in the amount of $78,000, which he said staff had applied for.
Deputy Mayor Dan Armour called it a good news story and asked when installation would begin. Hall said as soon as half-load road restrictions are lifted, generally between May 9 and 31, or sooner weather permitting.
Huntsville Councillor Scott Morrison said he’s glad council asked staff to revisit the project and noted it has resulted in savings.
Huntsville Mayor Nancy Alocock agreed, “This really is a good news story. This is such a different number from what we were talking about before, and we all benefit.”
Councillor Cory Clarke, who has not supported the project in the past, said he has concerns about the reliability of the washroom. He said that based on his own research, he came to realize that the washroom breaks down, is not vandal-proof, and doesn’t stand the test of time. “There are many towns and cities that have had issues with those types of bathrooms and actually are removing them now. So when breakdowns happen they require outside maintenance and worst case they’re not able to be used until the repairs happen, so that was a concern to me.”
Clarke said he fears some councillors have unreasonable expectations of the washroom, “and I hope we’re not being set up for disappointment with these bathrooms.” But he said the Town now owns a bathroom that cannot be returned or sold, so he would be voting in favour of moving forward. “But let me be clear to say that, if we didn’t already own this bathroom I wouldn’t support moving ahead with this project. I just don’t believe this type of bathroom is the best option but, like I said, we own it now so it’s decision time.”
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of moving forward with the project. The funds for the donated washroom will be coming from development charges.
You can find the detailed staff report, HERE (pdf).
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Milton Fisher says
This is another waste of my tax dollars along with everyone else…some nerve.raise our property taxes and you keep spending our money…..maybe stop spending our money on things we really don’t need and maybe lower everyone taxes…that would be a good plan.
Raphael Mendel says
We need an accessible washroom at the park so disabled residents and visitors have a facility to use. The playground is one of if not the only structure in town with accessible equipment. I can’t say if this unit is the best option specifically but an accessible washroom isn’t a waste of money.
Chuck Muir says
Totally right Milton Fisher you hit the nail on the head, I’m in agreement quit wasting our hard earned money!
Tamara de la Vega says
Thank you for your comment Mr. Fisher,
Please note, as per the staff report, the money being used to install the donated washroom will come from development not taxpayer dollars.
Thomas R Spivak says
Since my prior comment on the proposed cost of the washrooms at River Mill park was not allowed I shall rephrase my letter.
Can the town council explain why the highest bid was the one accepted, who got the bid, and what was the problem with the low bid?
Does the town only accept bids from the big contractors in Muskoka?
I think we need transparency on this project given the mishandling of it.
Perhaps Mr. Clarke can provide more details?
Lucille Frith says
Is site #1 on an uphill grade?
Accessibility on a very long ramp included in the price?
Scott Morrison says
Hi Lucille. Yes, the accessible ramp is included in the price, this was a very important component.
Also, Thomas, the bid that was chosen was the second lowest bid, and it was the lowest bid for site number one which is the most ideal location.
Cheers
Thomas R Spivak says
Thank you Mr. Morrison,
However this still doesn’t explain why the lowest bid was not accepted and who was awarded this bid?
We need to see transparency on these decisions.
Scott Morrison says
Hi Thomas, That’s a good question and I should have explained a bit more in my original post. I notice that you did ask that in your post.
For this tender we asked contractors to submit bids for two separate locations. As mentioned, site #1 was most ideal for a lot of reasons, mostly because it is tucked away from the useable area of the park while site #8 is in an area that gets used for events.
The awarded bid went to a company called Drocon Inc. out of Cobourg. It was actually the lowest bid for site #1. There was a bid for site #8 that was about $8,000 lower than the lowest bid for site #1 but it would have impacted the usability of the park. Council are not part of the procurement process but I do know that our team does a great job of considering all aspects of these bids before deciding which one is best for the town. They even request references from companies as part of the process. A lot of work goes into who gets awarded the contract.
Here is a link to all of the relevant information from the tender process on this project. This is posted for all tenders so that the process is as transparent as possible. This link shows all bids for site #1 which ended up being the chosen site. It shows the company names, locations and their bids.
https://huntsville.bidsandtenders.ca/Module/Tenders/en/Tender/Detail/8a651420-b7a4-4b20-8dcd-99f00e899b4c/#Submitted
You seem to have a lot of good questions and input. I would be happy to have you reach out anytime should you not be getting the answers you are looking for. My cell is 705-783-8199 and my email is [email protected] I believe that transparency is absolutely critical and that our citizens should hold council accountable.
Cheers,
Scott