City council discuss Capital Works tenders

A Winnipeg firm is the successful bidder for this year's City of Steinbach capital works projects. Darco Enterprises submitted the lowest bid of $1.93 million dollars.

Deputy Mayor Jac Siemens moved approval of accepting the tender. He says it's good to see the bid is slightly below the budget that had been set for the work. Siemens adds the city's commitment to move up the tendering process is making a difference. "I think one of the changes we made as a council a number of years ago is that we'd get our tendering process out there earlier. What it does, number one, I think it gives us better pricing and, number two, as soon as the spring thaw happens, we've awarded it (the contract) already and they're here and they're working," said Siemens

Councillor Michael Zwaagstra says it's good news for taxpayers when the tender comes in under budget because it means they don't have to find money elsewhere in the budget to cover cost overruns. He notes the 2012 Capital Works Program is quite ambitious. "We have our underground infrastructure renewal, notably in the Spruce Crescent area. We also have new sidewalks going into certain sections of the city. In addition, we are continuing with our asphalt overlay program where we want to resurface several streets and make sure they remain in good condition." The list of projects includes sidewalks along Giesbrecht Street, south of Reimer Avenue and along Mckenzie Street, west of Brandt Street. Much of the road and infrastructure work will take place in the vicinity of Spruce Crescent, Reimer Avenue and Penner Street.