Surprise! You cannot escape July without one last meeting, and it’s the Wellington County Social Services Meeting. It’s fitting that just a week after that Grace Gardens officially opened that we get a meeting with the one item that’s on this agenda, and having said that you can probably guess what it is. If you’re concerned about the progress on social housing here in Guelph and Wellington County, you may be about to hear some good news.
NOTE: This meeting takes place at the special day, time and location of 10 am in Aboyne Hall at the Wellington County Museum and Archives.
Construction and Construction Management Contract Award: 65 Delhi Street Transitional Housing – The year started with the architects coming to committee with a look at what the transitional housing project at 65 Delhi might look like once renovations are completed. It’s appropriate then that before the August break that committee should approve the winning tender for this project. Out of the six pre-qualified construction management firms that were issued the formal request for proposal, and County staff are recommending Collaborative Structures Limited of Cambridge.
The construction management model sees the manager, in this case Collaborative Structures, work with the owner, meaning the County, to act as an advisor in the pre-construction phase and then assume the role of general contractor when construction begins. The process will use “open book” tendering, where competitive bids will be obtained for all trades and sub-contracting, which will be overseen by staff, so that the County can get the best possible bang for their buck on this project.
This last part is key because the contract with Collaborative Structures is recommended for approval at just over $8.333 million, which is about three-quarters of a million more than the $7.6 million capital budget for the project that was approved last year.
Guelph Politico 