FINANCE & ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE

 

 

 

 

 

TO:

Mayor and Members of Council

 

 

 

 

FROM:

Alan Brown, Director of Engineering

 

 

 

 

PREPARED BY:

Allan Arbuckle, Manager of Infrastructure and Capital Works

 

 

 

 

DATE OF MEETING:

2004-May-03

 

 

 

 

SUBJECT:

Tender Award - Contract 001-T-04

Enterprise Drive/Helen Avenue Extension including GO Transit Grade Separation

 

 

 

 

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the tender for the construction of  the Enterprise Drive/Helen Avenue extensions including GO Transit Grade Separation be awarded to the lowest bidder, Miwel Contractors in the amount of $ 17,352,615.50 inclusive of 7% GST. ($16,217,397.66 excluding GST).

 

AND THAT the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute the contract with Miwel Construction Limited for the construction of the Enterprise Drive/Helen Avenue Extension including the GO Transit Grade Separation in a form satisfactory to the Director of Engineering.

 

AND THAT Engineering staff be authorized to retain the consulting firm McCormick Rankin Corporation as preferred supplier to provide construction inspection and contract administration services during construction of the project to an upset limit of $609,923.54 inclusive of 7% GST ($570,022.00 exclusive of GST);

 

AND THAT Engineering staff be authorized to retain the consulting firm of  Peto MacCallum Limited as the lowest price bidder to provide materials and foundation testing services during construction of the project for an estimated total cost of $83,641.90 inclusive of 7% GST ($78,170.00 exclusive of GST);

 

AND THAT Purchasing Department staff be authorized to issue purchase orders to GO Transit for a total amount not to exceed $ 995,100.00 inclusive of 7% GST, ($ 930,000.00           exclusive of GST) for the cost of work to be carried out by GO Transit for the temporary diversion of the rail line to allow construction of the grade separation.

 

AND THAT funding for the project be provided from the approved Capital Budget accounts, and recoveries from the Region of York (YRTP) and Markham District Energy, as identified in this report;

 

 

AND THAT Council pre-approve $9,607,866 required in 2005 for the completion of this project, to be funded from Development Charges as included in the 2004 Development Charge By-Law;

 

AND THAT staff report back as to the final streetscape design elements and funding requirements for approval;

 

AND THAT upon payment of all invoices, any remaining funding be returned to its original funding source.

 

AND THAT Operations and Asset Management staff report back as to the estimated value of the annual operating, maintenance and capital depreciation costs for the pumping station, grade separation and municipal services to be included in the 2006 and subsequent years operating budgets.

 

AND THAT the Finance Department report back as to funding options for the Development Charges related portion of the 10 Year Capital Program.

 

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to award the contract for the construction of the Enterprise Drive and Helen Avenue extension including the GO Transit Rail separation and to retain consultants to provide construction inspection, contract administration and materials testing services during construction of the project.

 

BACKGROUND:

On April 29, 2003, Council endorsed an accelerated road infrastructure construction program in support of Markham Centre.   As a part of this accelerated program, staff was directed to fast track the design and construction of the Enterprise Drive/Helen Avenue extension to Kennedy Road including a grade separation of the GO Rail line. The intention of this fast track program was to complete the construction of the Enterprise Drive connection to Kennedy Road by the end of 2004 or early in 2005. Work on the detailed design of the project, the acquisition of properties, the negotiation of agreements with several parties and the securing of approvals for the project has been ongoing since May 2003 and has advanced to the stage where tenders  have been received for the construction of the first phase of the project which includes:

·        the construction of Enterprise Drive and Helen Avenue from the GO rail line to Kennedy Road .

·        the construction of a 3 span railway underpass structure to accommodate Enterprise Drive and the future YRTP transitway including retaining walls.

·        A diversion of the GO Transit rail line and Unionville station platform to allow construction of the underpass structure.

·        The installation of local services including sanitary sewers, watermains, storm sewers and lot services along Enterprise Drive and Helen Avenue.

·        The widening and reconstruction of the existing Helen Avenue/Kennedy Road intersection including the reconstruction of Helen Avenue for a distance of approximately 100 metres east of Kennedy Road.

·        The installation of district heating and cooling systems along Enterprise Drive and Helen Avenue.

·        The installation of streetlighting throughout the project.

 

While the current contract contains some enhanced urban design features such as patterned surface treatments on retaining walls and upgraded fencing, the majority of the streetscaping works including lighting, boulevard treatments and pedestrian facilities reflect current Town standard practices. It is anticipated that once the Markham Centre urban design guidelines have been prepared and adopted, the enhanced streetscape features contained in these guidelines will be incorporated into the Enterprise Drive/ Helen Drive contract through contract change orders, subject to Council approval or design elements and funding arrangements.

 

Staff will report back to Council with the cost of providing this enhanced streetscaping later this year for approval of additional funding.

      

DISCUSSION:

As a part of Council’s endorsement of an accelerated road infrastructure program for Markham Centre, the Engineering Department was authorized to retain the consulting firm of McCormick Rankin Corporation to prepare the detailed designs, construction drawings, specifications and tender documents for the construction of the Enterprise Drive/Helen Avenue extension and the grade separation of the GO Rail line.  Council also authorized the Engineering Department to prequalifiy contractors to submit tenders for the construction of this project. The tender, which  was issued to a total of seven prequalified contractors on March 19 2004  closed on April 7, 2004 with a total of five contractors submitting bids in the following amounts:

 

 

Contractor

Total Tender Price

(including 7% GST)

Total Tender Price

(excluding GST)

Miwel Construction Limited

$17,352,615.50

$16,217,397.66

Graham Brothers Construction Ltd.

$17,533,984.36

$16,386,901.27

Dagmar Construction Inc.

$17,721,701.78

$16,562,338.11

Dufferin Construction Company

$18,660,707.79

$17,439,913.82

Grascan Construction Ltd.

$20,122,634.00

$18,806,200.00

 

The bids were verified for accuracy and compliance with the tender terms and conditions.  The consultant, McCormick Rankin Corporation, and Town staff has reviewed the tender submitted by Miwel Construction Limited and are satisfied that all terms, conditions, bid prices and specifications comply with the Town’s requirements.  References have been checked and proven satisfactory.  A copy of the consultant’s contract award recommendation is included as Attachment ‘B’.

 

In addition to the work to be undertaken by the contractor, GO Transit forces must be retained to perform track works associated with the temporary detour of the existing rail line during construction of the bridge.  GO Transit has provided a preliminary cost estimate for their portion of the track detour work in the amount of $950,000.  The final cost for this work will be based on the actual cost of labour, equipment and materials used on the project.

 

CONSULTANT SERVICES:

The Town’s purchasing By-law allows for the acquisition of consulting and professional services from a preferred supplier without seeking proposals if the service is non-standard and the supplier has a proven track record with the Town in terms of quality, pricing and service.

The consulting firm of McCormick Rankin Corporation was retained by the Town to prepare the detailed designs, construction drawings, specifications and tender documents for this project.  McCormick Rankin has provided the Town with excellent service and quality of work throughout the project design and tendering process while adhering to the tight delivery

timeframes required by the accelerated project schedule. In addition to the firm’s proven track record with the Town on this project and their  experience and qualifications in providing design services for rail crossing structures,  McCormick Rankin are also well qualified and acceptable to GO Transit and CN Rail to provide  the contract administration and  inspection services during the construction phase of the project. Staff requested that McCormick Rankin provide a quotation to provide contract administration construction inspection for the project. The upset limit price submitted by MRC of $609,923.54 inclusive of all taxes and disbursements is approximately 3.5% the contract price. This percentage fee is at the lower end of the fee range which staff would expect for a project of this magnitude and complexity and is below the percentage fee of approximately 4.3% contained in the Professional Engineers of Ontario Schedule of Fees Guidelines.

 

Given the short time frame available to construct the project and  McCormick Rankin’s experience, qualifications, excellent previous performance and competitive fee proposal, staff are recommending that McCormick Rankin Corporation be retained to provide contract administration and construction inspection services for the project.

 

For quality control purposes, the Engineering Department must retain a materials testing firm to provide geotechnical and materials testing during construction.  McCormick Rankin Corporation on behalf of the Engineering Department has received the following proposals from three qualified testing firms and is recommending that the Town retain Peto MacCallum Limited, the firm who submitted the lowest unit prices for the work.

 

Consultant

Cost (incl. 7% GST)

Cost (excl. GST)

Peto MacCallum

$83,641.90

$78,170.00

Thurber Engineering

$95,444.00

$89,200.00

Golder Associates

$112,377.82

$105,026.00

 

 

PROPERTY ACQUISITION

The majority of the lands required to construct the Enterprise Drive/Helen Avenue extensions are owned by GIC Holdings Limited. Staff has been negotiating with GIC since June of 2003 to acquire these lands and a confidential report detailing the status of these negotiations was presented to Council on March 29 2004. Significant progress has been made towards acquiring the lands since the March 29th report was presented to the extent that an Agreement to acquire the lands has now been finalized with GIC.  Council has previously authorized the Mayor and Clerk to execute this Agreement subject to the satisfaction of the CAO, Town Solicitor and the Town’s outside legal counsel.

 

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Staff recommends that tender for the construction of the Enterprise Drive/Helen Avenue extensions including GO Transit Grade Separation be awarded to the lowest bidder, Miwel Contractors in the amount of $ 17,352,615.50 inclusive of 7% GST. ($16,217,397.66 exclusive of GST).  The total cost of the constructing this phase of the project excluding the property acquisition costs and the cost of implementing the enhanced streetscape design is as follows:

 

Item

Cost incl. 7% GST

Cost excl. GST

Construction Cost        

$17,352,615.50

$16,217,397.66

Construction Inspection & Contract Administration fee

$609,923.54

$570,022.00

Geotechnical Inspections

$83,641.50

$78,170.00

GO Transit Charges

$995,100.00

$930,000.00

Engineering Department Project Management Fee @ 2%

$380,611.60

$355,711.78

Total Project Cost

$19,421,892.14

$18,151,301.44

 

Funding for the project will be provided from the following sources

 

Funding Source

Cost incl. 7% GST

Cost excl. GST

Town Wide Hard Development Charges

$5,576,109.48

$5,211,317.27

Markham Centre Area Specific Development Charge

$5,679,450.67

$5,307,897.82

South Unionville Area Specific Development Charge

$295,426.19

$276,099.24

Helen Ave Sub Area Development Charge

$540,970.30

$505,579.72

Markham Centre East Precinct Sub Area Development Charge

$3,923,246.99

$3,666,585.97

Markham Centre (Remington) Sub Area Development Charge

$782,384.13

$731,200.12

Recoveries from the Region of York  (YRTP)

$750,000.00

$750,000.00

Recoveries from Markham District Energy

$1,821,804.79

$1,702,621.30

TOTAL

$19,421,892.14

$18,151,301.44

 

 

 

The Town’s portion of the project costs is funded in the approved Capital Budget in the following amounts:

 

Project #

Account #

Budget 2004

2005 Budget

Underpass Construction

6116

83-5350-6116-005

$5,608,435

$9,607,866

Road Construction

6117

83-5350-6117-005

$1,185,400

 

Municipal Services

6118

83-535-6118-005

$1,749,600

 

Totals

 

 

$8,543,435

$9,607,866

 

The magnitude of the construction of the Enterprise Drive/Helen Avenue extensions including the GO Transit Grade Separation was contemplated  in the 2004/2005 Captial budget.

 

Previous development charges by-laws assumed a level crossing for this project but subsequent direction from GO Transit/CN required the Town to proceed with a grade separation.  The majority of the costs are therefore not in the current Development Charges By-laws but will be included in the 2004 DC background study currently being prepared.   The study and and DC by-laws will be presented to Council this summer for approval. 

 

The Finance Department has advised that the 10 Year Capital Road Program funded by development charges over the next ± 7 years will incurr a large number of expensive projects (i.e. grade separations) and will likely require the Town to borrow funds to support this road infrastructure program and other future capital projects.  The Finance Department will report back further on this matter after the Development Charges background studies are completed.

 

OUTSTANDING ISSUES

There are a number of other issues which remain outstanding in relation to this project including:

  • The finalization and execution of the grade separation agreement with GO Transit and Canadian National railways.
  • The negotiation of an agreement with the Region of York regarding the funding and maintenance of the YRTP portion of the grade separation.
  • The finalization of easement agreement with the Remington Group
  • The finalization of an agreement with Markham District Energy regarding the funding of the district energy distribution system installation.

 

Council has previously authorized the Mayor and Clerk to execute these agreements subject to the satisfaction of the CAO and Town Solicitor. Work on resolving these issues are ongoing and it is expected that the resolution of these issues will not impact the proposed construction schedule.

 

Staff will also be reporting back to Council on the following matters;

  • Urban Design standards for the Markham centre area
  • Updated Development Charge By-laws in July 2004.

 

 

 

CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE

The current schedule for the project, to be finalized with the contractor, is to have this contract completed and the road open to traffic by the end of 2005.

 

OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE ISSUES

The construction of a pumping station is required to accommodate storm drainage in the underpass.  While the capital costs of constructing this pumping station (approximately $1.6 million ) will be funded by development charges, the ongoing operation and maintenance of the pumping station and other infrastructure works constructed under this contract will be the responsibility of the Operations and Asset Management Department and will be funded by the tax rate.  The Operation and Asset Management Department will have to include the operating, maintenance and capital department costs for the grade separation, pumping station, road works, municipal servicing and street lights in the annual budget commencing in 2006.

 

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

The Finance Department, Legal Department and Operation and Asset Management Department have reviewed this report and their comments have been incorporated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment A – Location Plan

Attachment B – Award Recommendation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alan Brown, C.E.T.

Director of Engineering

 

Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.

Commissioner of Development Services

 

 

Q:\Development\Engineering\REPORTS\2004\May\Tender Award Enterprise Drive.doc