The Errington Community Park requires a new concession and washroom building.
Both facilities have reached the end of its lifespan and need to be replaced to meet the needs of the community as the park is home to the Errington Farmer’s Market.
Last year, the Electoral Area F (Coombs, Hilliers, Errington, Whiskey Creek, Meadowood) Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee made a recommendation to allocate$300,000 of Community Work Funds to the project and it was included in the 2023 budget.
The plan is to build a new building that will serve as a public washroom that will be available to all park users as well as a commercial kitchen for the farmer’s market and other events.
But through the design development, the cost of the project has gone up. An additional $250,000 was required which the Regional District of Nanaimo board last July 25, agreed to re-allocate from the Growing Community Funds.
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A request for proposal was launched that closed on Aug. 18. There was one solitary bid by CIP Modular that offered $455,500 to manufacture and install a modular building with washroom and concession.
The chair of the board, Vanessa Craig, during its regular meeting on Sept. 12 was surprised at the cost of the project. Since there was only one bidder, Craig asked whether they have a way of gauging whether the bid price is reasonable.
“I assume whenever a proposal for a project cost comes to the board even if there’s only one, it would be potentially rejected if it was considered to be unreasonable,” said Craig.
General Manager of Recreation and Parks, Tom Osborne indicated that the proposal is compliant with the tender award.
“It is within the project budget as amended,” said Osborne. “The only option to consider it was if it was outside the scope or outside the project budget. Then it could be rejected. So at this point, staff reviewed the bid and it is compliant, meets all the terms.”
The board unanimously approved a contract to be awarded to CIP Modular to build the modular washroom and concession building for Errington Community Park.
The work to construct the new building will begin after Halloween. The existing building will be demolished after the new building is constructed and occupancy has been granted.
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