Lowest bid for gravel not accepted
After extensive discussion at the committee level, council decided to accept the second lowest bid for the supply of gravel to the municipality, rather than the lowest bid.
“We looked at it in committee and did our due diligence,” said Mayor Richard Stephens, noting that in the end “it wasn’t enough dollars to change it from our current supplier.”
Although not all councillors are present at each committee meeting, with five of seven councillors assigned to each committee, Mayor Stephens noted that the information on each of the bids was provided in the councillor’s council meeting packages. “Of course any councillor is welcome to attend each committee meeting, they just are not able to vote,” he said.
The gravel request for proposal had three bidders: Pearson Calvin and Son Excavation and Haulage Ltd. of Providence Bay, Don Eadie Construction Ltd. of Little Current and C.C. Construction of M’Chigeeng.
Each contractor bid on the supply of two types of gravel, broken 3 and granular M. The Pearson bid was awarded the contract to supply both with a bid of $7,401 ($13.10 per unit) for 500 cubic metres of broken 3” and $116,073 ($17.12 per unit) for 6,000 cubic metres of granular M.
The Eadie bid was lowest at $7,390.20 ($13.08 per unit) for 500 cubic metres of broken 3” and $116,073 ($16.72 per unit) for 6,000 cubic metres of granular M and the CC Construction bid was highest at $7,203.75 ($12.75 per unit) for 500 cubic metres of broken 3” and $118,524.40 ($17.48 per unit) for 6,000 cubic metres of granular M.
The total of each collective bid saw a difference of $2,723.30 between the lowest and second lowest bids ($120,751.80 and $123,475.10). Mayor Stephens noted that the committee decided that amount was not enough of a difference to warrant a change in suppliers. “We had good service from the current supplier,” confirmed Mayor Stephens.
The highest gravel bid came in $2,243.05 over the winning bid and $4,966.35 above the lowest bid.
