Winter Road Maintenance Services in the District of Barriere have been performed under contract by Murray Purcha and Son for the past three years, with an option to renew for a further two years on the contract. However, the District recently made the decision to put the contract out for proposals rather than to renew as per the option.
District of Barriere staff persons, Dustin Doherty, Roads, Parks and BylawEnforcement Coordinator, and Colleen Hannigan, CAO, presented the following information to mayor and council on Feb. 17, 2016, in a closed session regarding Winter Road Maintenance Services — RFP 16-01. The information was released to the public on Feb. 23, 2016.
“Currently the cost of contracted winter roads’ maintenance is $213,000 per season, not including sweeping or any other service that falls within the summer months.
“The operating cost for this same maintenance (with the same level of service) done in house has been estimated at $150,870 per season, not including potential savings with summer maintenance and with other departments.
“This is a generous number based on worst case scenarios. A detailed breakdown of the estimated winter maintenance in-house operating costs is included with this report.
“It was recognized that if the contract was put out for new proposals at this time, there is a chance that a contractor may be willing to do the maintenance for closer to the estimated cost than is currently the case.
“The Request For Proposals — RFP 16-01 Winter Road Maintenance Services was issued on Jan. 25, and closed at 2 p.m. on Feb. 15.
“Five proposals were received prior to the deadline and all met the minimum mandatory requirements to proceed to full evaluation. Upon final evaluation it has been determined that the lowest Lump Sum Price proposal, which is slightly above the estimated cost arrived at by staff, will provide the best value for this service to the District.
“Since the District has experience with this contractor we are confident that they will achieve the level of service outlined in their proposal.
“It was therefore recommended that Council award the 2016 Winter Road Maintenance Services contract to Defiance Enterprise Inc. (Quality Contractors), for a term of three years beginning Oct. 1, 2016, with the possibility of a further two year extension at the District’s discretion, at a lump sum price of $156,000 and as further detailed in their response to RFP 16-0/which will form part of the contractual agreement.”