At their meeting on June 7, Tudor and Cashel council discussed reports on tenders for a new ¾ tonne pickup truck, crushed stone and winter sand brought forward by Nancy Carrol, the clerk and treasurer. After some discussion on these reports for the tenders, council voted to approve them all.Michael Riley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Original Published on Jun 21, 2022 at 16:41

By Michael Riley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

At their meeting on June 7, Tudor and Cashel council discussed reports on tenders for a new ¾ tonne pickup truck, crushed stone and winter sand brought forward by Nancy Carrol, the clerk and treasurer. After some discussion on these reports for the tenders, council voted to approve them all.

At the June 7 meeting, Mayor Libby Clarke introduced Carrol’s reports on the tenders for the procurement of the ¾ tonne pickup truck, the crushed stone and the winter sand.

The tender for RFT 22-03, for the new ¾ tonne tandem pickup truck, tradesman crewcab with a six-foot, four-inch box was tendered out. Despite being advertised on the municipal website, the local newspaper and direct contact with local dealerships, it received only one reply back from Campbellford Chrysler in the amount of $76,511.19 plus HST. According to Carrol, the funds for this purchase will be transferred from township reserves as per council resolution 2022-112.

Councillor Bob Bridger had a question about this tender, wondering why if there’d been direct contact with local dealerships, that Vance Motors in Bancroft or a Chrysler dealer in Madoc had not been directly contacted about the truck. Public works supervisor Glenn Hagerman** said that he had not been impressed with the service he’d gotten from Vance Motors when he had taken a couple of pickup trucks there for service a couple of years ago, and was impressed with the service at Campbellford, so that was why he had directly contacted the latter.

The tender for this vehicle was also advertised on the municipal website and in the local newspaper as per the township’s procurement policy and there were no tenders received from any other dealers than the one in Campbellford.

Bridger also had a question about why the truck was being paid for out of reserves versus being paid for through financing over time. Carrol replied that they’d been setting aside money for purchases like this for years and that they’d indeed financed some items when the interest rates were really low, which they are not now.

The vote was called and all were in favour of passing this tender except Bridger.

Next, council discussed RFT 22-01, for the supply, treatment and stockpiling of winter sand. The sand will be delivered to the township garage on Weslemkoon Lake Road, piled and treaded by the contractor.

The recommendation was for council to approve the tender from Danfords Construction in the amount of $62,000 plus HST. Although the tender was released through the municipal website and local newspaper as per the township’s procurement bylaw, Danfords Contruction was the only reply received. The purchase of this winter sand for the 2022/2023 season was estimated during the budgeting process by Carrol and the municipal staff and the tendered amount if fully covered in the estimated amount.

Lastly, council talked about RFT 22-02, the supply of crushed stone. After receiving two tenders for the crushed granular 5/8”, from Danfords Construction and Drain Bros., staff recommended that council approve the tender for Danfords Construction in the amount of $139,000 plus HST, if the percentage distribution for gravel throughout the township remains consistent with the tender.

Carrol said in her report that as per the township procurement bylaw, a request for tender was advertised [on the municipal website and the local newspaper] for the delivery of materials to the north and south portions of the municipality, as well as the pickup of materials for stockpile at the municipal yard. She said that tenders were received from Danfords Construction Ltd. and Drain Bros Excavating Ltd., and that the tender was requested at a per tonne cost. She also revealed that the overall cost exceeded the amount budgeted during the 2022 budgeting process.

“The overall cost difference between the two tenders, for the supply, hauling and spreading of the granular in the Millbridge area is $105,000 for Danfords versus $104,400 for Drain Bros (a $600 difference), for the supply, hauling and spreading of granular in the Gunter area is $28,500 for Danfords versus $42,750 for Drain Bros. (a $14,250 difference) and for the supply of the remaining for pickup was $5,500 for Danfords versus $4,400 for Drain Bros. (an $1,100 difference). Danfords Construction cost to deliver to the southern portion of the township is $0.10 more per tonne than Drain Bros. Excavating. Drain Bros. Excavating’s cost to deliver to thenorthern portion of the municipality is $9.50 more per tonne than Danfords Construction. Danfords Construction’s cost for pickup is $2.50 more per tonne than Drains Excavating,” she said in her report.

For the last two tenders, for the crushed stone and the winter sand, there was no discussion or questions from council, so Clarke called the vote. Council voted unanimously to pass these two tenders.

This item reprinted with permission from The Bancroft Times, Bancroft, Ontario