Another step closer to start of gateway project

The gears are in motion again for the makeover plans at Queen & Mississagua Streets, considered the gateway to the main street, with the town awarding the construction project to an Ancaster-based company at almost $265,000.

Town staff reviewed three bids received after a request for tender this winter, and have decided to award the project to Three Seasons Landscape Group, after issues arose last year with the contractors initially slated to handle the project.

This project will introduce a significant new feature to the Old Town intersection, as visitors driving into the heritage district on Mississagua Street will see the walled entrance sign on the north side of Queen Street.

It’s being funded entirely through a donation from Gerald Kowalchuk’s Family Foundation, according to a recent staff report from parks and recreation manager Kevin Turcotte.

“We have gone out to tender and these are the tender results,” Turcotte said during council’s March 28 meeting. “What we are constructing is everything on the golf course side, with the drystone wall, the irrigation and the plantings that go along with the drawings that you’ve seen.”

According to his report, upon receipt by council, staff will award the project to the successful bidder.

In January 2022, council approved a final draft of the design, with a 22-metre long, 2.7 metre tall drystone wall and entrance sign.

Initially, construction was meant to start in September and be completed by this spring by Aldershot Landscape Contractors. However, during council’s Sept. 26 meeting, it reviewed a staff report which stated the cost estimation they received from the contractor was $15,000 higher than the original estimate, putting them over the project’s budget limit.

During the process, they also found out their original subcontractor would not be able to start on the project until spring 2023, and was missing someone with master drystone wall certification to do that skilled work.

Going back to the drawing board, which council approved during the September meeting, a request for pre-qualification was put out late December, during which the town received four proposals from interested contractors, and reviewed each submission to see if it met the town’s project requirements.

Three contractors were then invited to submit their requests for tender and on March 7, the town reviewed the presented construction costs, with Three Seasons coming in with the lowest price.

With an additional $29,790 for design costs, the town would need to pay $264,890 to the Three Seasons company to complete the project, falling under the available project funding amount.

The report did not share when construction will get started. Turcotte wrote staff will work with the successful contractors and the landscape architects to create a build schedule, and will share an update on jointheconversationnotl.org once it is finalized.