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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFIN-10-078 - Stimulus Project Update - June 2010REPORT REPORT TO: Councillor Berry Vrbanovic, Chair, and Members of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: June 7, 2010 SUBMITTED BY: Dan Chapman, General Manager of Financial Services PREPARED BY: Jaya Chatterjee, Junior Financial Analyst, Financial Planning WARD(S) INVOLVED: All DATE OF REPORT: June 2, 2010 REPORT NO.: FIN-10-078 SUBJECT: STIMULUS PROJECT UPDATE - JUNE 2010 RECOMMENDATION: THAT the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute an amendment to the following contracts and agreements satisfactory to the City Solicitor to provide for the early release of the 2% maintenance holdback or portions thereof respecting projects for which infrastructure stimulus funding or other grant(s) have been obtained: McGillivray & Sons Contractors Limited (September 22, 2009) – to allow the City to release the 2% maintenance holdback on February 15, 2011 for the stimulus fund work completed for Greenbrook drive; Coco Paving Inc. (April 28, 2009) – to allow the City to release the 2% maintenance holdback on February 15, 2011 for the stimulus fund portion of the work; THAT the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute forthcoming contracts, agreements, and amending agreements satisfactory to the City Solicitor, reducing the release of the 2% holdback from two (2) years from the date of substantial completion to February 15, 2011 in relation to stimulus fund projects and; THAT the Mayor be directed to issue correspondence to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to request an extension to the timeline for the submission of the final claim/report for the Consolidated Maintenance Facility project under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund from April 15, 2011 to June 30, 2011 in accordance with Section 5.8 of the funding agreement and consistent with the timelines adopted for Recreation Infrastructure Canada (RInC) projects; and further THAT, subject to the requirements of the contribution agreements, the City publicly recognize the completion of stimulus projects by way of a media release, with the exception of the following projects which will have public events in addition to a media release: Aquatic Facility Upgrades CMF Solar Roof Centre in the Square îì ó ï McLennan Park Development Bridgeport Community Centre Sportsworld Arena Upgrade BACKGROUND: This report is part of a series of bi-monthly updates to Finance and Corporate Services Committee on the status of the City’s Stimulus Funding Projects. This reflects a commitment to ensure that these infrastructure funds is spent in an open, transparent and accountable manner and that Council is afforded an opportunity to track the progress of these projects on a regular basis. REPORT: Section 1 – Project Status Update Appendix “A” provides a summary of project status and Appendix “B” depicts the progress towards completion of each project compared to the planned timeline. Since the previous report (April 12, 2010) many projects have made progress. Some projects have not advanced due to factors beyond the City’s control as discussed in this report or because of the time of year. Several projects are behind schedule to some degree, but project managers have confirmed that each project can still be completed with the permitted time frame. In addition to the project status update mentioned in Appendices A and B, a status update follows for the issues related to the various Stimulus fund projects outlined in the last Council report: CAF King Street Reconstruction: Amending agreement #1: The City’s request to amend the letter of offer to reduce o the overall total project cost and increase the percentage proportion of the total project cost to be claimed has been approved by the Ministry. This change will not affect value of the City’s claim of $1,230,200 but will ensure that the value of the relevant phase of the project aligns with the timeframes identified in the letter of offer. Amending agreement #2: The Ministry has extended the project completion date of o March 31, 2010 to June 30, 2010. In addition, the final submission of the report has been extended from June 30, 2010 to September 30, 2010. Both parties have executed amending Agreement #2. Bridgeport Community Centre: The GRCA Board approved the permit for the reconstruction of the Bridgeport Community Centre on May 13th. The approval is conditional upon the receipt and approval of final plans and a structural engineer’s report, which will be submitted to the GRCA by May 21st. Staff have also received the required zoning approvals from Committee of adjustment. Project timelines have been adjusted based on the approval processes and reviewed with all parties. Timelines are compressed and staff are working to accelerate as many processes as possible on this project. Construction will likely commence in August of this year. City Hall Lighting: Engineering Staff have proposed expending the balance of the City Hall Lighting Upgrades funding for lighting upgrades along King Street. This would include street lights, tree/planter lights, intersection lights, bollard lights and high-mast (LED) roadway lights. The project activities mentioned above are appropriate to the project description mentioned in the contribution agreement. Solar Roof: îì ó î The City has received the contract from OPA for the FIT program and is reviewing the documents through Legal staff. The connection impact assessment is scheduled for June 3. With improvements in the economy and the extent of stimulus investment, response to project tenders has been lower than normal on some recent closings. This presents a risk of increasing project costs. Staff will continue to manage scope of the projects to align to the estimated project cost. The City has been regularly submitting monthly claims for ISF projects and the CAF King Street reconstruction project since December 2009. Section 2 – Expedited Purchasing Measures Council has previously approved a number of purchasing measures to expedite projects receiving funds under the Infrastructure Stimulus Program, while still maintaining a fair, open, and transparent procurement process. The measures, along with comments on their utilization, are outlined in Appendix “C”. The City's normal internal policy under Section 6.3 of the General Conditions requires the City to retain 2% of the total value of the work done for a period of 24 months from the date of final completion. There is presently a lack of clarity in the claim process related to 2% holdbacks for stimulus fund projects, specifically, whether holdbacks released after the final report date of April 15, 2011 will be funded through the grant. As a result, staff requests that Council vary the internal policy in relation to stimulus fund projects and give direction to release the 2% maintenance holdback associated with stimulus fund projects on February 15, 2011 in order to facilitate the City's submission of invoices in accordance with the deadlines set out in the contribution agreement. Existing warranty provisions will be maintained in contract documents. Section 3 – Federal/Provincial Program Updates On June 1, 2010 the City was advised that the projects submitted under Community Adjustment Fund Intake II have not been selected for funding. The City submitted three applications for the CAF Fund Intake II on January 18, 2010. The projects applied for the CAF Fund Intake II were as follows: 1. Victoria Park Lake Design Phase ($0.95 million) 2. Redevelopment of Woodside Park (Synthetic Turf) ($1.6 million) 3. King Street Master Plan and Civic Square Renovation ($0.75 million) Section 4 – Other Information Final Report Date Staff is requesting Council’s assistance in requesting an extension from April 15 to June 30 for submission of the final report for the Consolidated Maintenance Facility project under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund. Staff is not requesting an extension to the project completion date. The contribution agreement (Section 6.4) provides that final payment claims are to be submitted with the final reports and that both have to be submitted by April 15, 2011. This is only 15 days after the project completion date of March 31, 2011. The 15-day final reporting window is a concern for the project since it will be substantially completed on or very close to îì ó í March 31, 2011. It is virtually impossible to have received, processed, and paid invoices for work completed in March, 2011 by April 15, 2011. Compounding this are the amounts held back under the Construction Lien Act and payments for the balance of the work from substantial performance to completion. So typically, at least 10% of a project’s total eligible costs could be lost as follows: the 10% lien holdback, which cannot be paid out for 45 days after substantial performance under the Construction Lien Act; the remaining payment for completion of the work, which typically occurs at least 30-60 days after substantial performance. There is a provision in the ISF Agreement (Section 5.8) which allows for an extension of the date for submission of final payment claims, but it appears to be entirely at the discretion of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. As such, OMAFRA should consider extending the deadline for filing the final payment claims for Consolidated Maintenance Facility project to 90 days post project completion. It should be noted that the equivalent contribution agreement for Recreation Infrastructure Canada (RInC) projects has a deadline for filing the final payment claim and final report of June, 2011. Junior Financial Analyst A Junior Financial Analyst has been retained over a twenty-two month period to assemble cost documentation, facilitate quarterly reporting and claim submission, and support overall program coordination including regular reporting to the Finance and Corporate Services Committee. In light of the current workload, the working hours of the Junior Financial Analyst assigned to this program were extended from 24 up to 35 hours per week over 9 months until the end of June 2010. It has become clear that the workload associated with this portfolio continues to require full time attention. As a result, the working hours will be extended by 11 hours per week until the end of the contract. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The anticipated cost of extending the Junior Financial Analyst from 24 to 35 hours per week until the end of the contract will be $17,300 and will be funded out of the City’s capital contingency. COMMUNICATION: To assist in ensuring the infrastructure stimulus funds are spent in an open, transparent and accountable manner, staff continues to implement the communications strategy that has been developed to assist in tracking the progress of all projects. The strategy contains various communications tools that will give residents an opportunity to follow the work that is underway on each project. Federal and provincial signage has now been installed at all project sites, recognizing federal and provincial funding support; only federal signage was required to be installed for the King Street reconstruction project, as it is supported by the federal Canada Adjustment Fund; Project-specific web pages, featuring an interactive map showing all project sites, is updated on a bi-monthly basis to ensure a user-friendly way for citizens to access information on each project. The web pages include background on each project, as well as status updates as they are provided by the project managers; îì ó ì Project progress continue to be included in every edition of Your Kitchener; this process will continue until the projects are complete; and Media releases and/or media events are planned for the completion of each project. It is proposed that media releases be issued upon the completion of all projects and that public events be scheduled for the following projects: Aquatic Facility Upgrades o CMF Solar Roof o Centre in the Square o McLennan Park Development o Bridgeport Community Centre o Sportsworld Arena Upgrade o ACKNOWLEDGED BY Dan Chapman, General Manager of Financial Services îì ó ë îì ó ê îì ó é APPENDIX "C" STIMULUS PROJECT STATUS UPDATE June 2, 2010 Utilization of Council-Approved Expedited Purchasing Measures Expedited Purchasing Measure Utilization The Mayor and Clerk are authorized to sign ISF Contribution agreements have been Provincial and Federal agreements as they received and executed after being reviewed by relate to the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund and the City Solicitor. CAF letter of offer has been the Recreational Infrastructure Canada Fund, received and executed by the City Solicitor. subject to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor. The first set of RInC contribution agreements have been received and executed after being reviewed by the City Solicitor. RInC contribution agreements for the recently approved four aquatic facility projects have been received and currently being reviewed by the City Solicitor. The Chief Administrative Officer is designated For Bridgeport Community Centre, expression to award tenders on Infrastructure Stimulus of interest for Consultant was awarded to Fund projects provided that the costs are AECOM with CAO’s approval on Oct 20th within the projected expenses outlined in the 2009. Cost of the award is $218,925. Total applications and they are reported to Council budget of the project is $2,249,740. There is a by way of the bi-monthly update report. tight schedule for this project and a delay might jeopardize the project. Province confirmed funding for this project after a delay of almost 2 months. For Sewer and Watermain Rehabilitation project, expression of interest E09-100, Consultant Services – Rehabilitation of Infrastructure on Selected Streets Using Trenchless Technology has been awarded to Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, Waterloo with CAO’s approval on December 14th 2009. Cost of the award is $257,600., including a contingency of $22,400., and G.S.T. For Breithaupt Centre project, expression of interest E10-051, Consultant Services – Breithaupt Centre Accessibility Renovations and Mechanical Upgrades has been awarded to +VG Architects, with CAO’s approval on May 06, 2010. Cost of the award is $ 59,226.30, including a disbursement of $2,690.41 and G.S.T of $2,820.30. For Storm Water Rehabilitation project, tender T10-014, Pond 4, Pond 22 and Pond 30 Stormwater Management Facilities Retrofit has been awarded to Golder Associates - Innovative Applications GAIA Inc., with CAO’s approval on May 19, 2010. Cost of the award is $1,232,134.05, îì ó è APPENDIX "C" STIMULUS PROJECT STATUS UPDATE June 2, 2010 including provisional items of $104,925., and G.S.T of $58,673.05. For Harry Class RInC project, expression of interest E10-025, Expression of Interest for Consultant Services for Harry Class Community Pool has been awarded to John MacDonald Architect Inc., with CAO’s approval on May 19, 2010. Cost of the award is $102,590, including a disbursement of $2,000, and G.S.T. of $4,790. Consultants involved in the preliminary phases This measure has been effective at expediting be retained and the consultant selection the project timeline. process be waived for following projects mentioned below: McLennan Park – Walter Fedy Partnership CMF Improvements - Giffels Associates Limited/ IBI Group (Architect consulting services) CMF Improvements - Morrison Hershfield Limited (Mechanical and Electrical consulting services) CMF Improvements - Morrison Hershfield Limited (LEED consultant services) For Storm Water Infrastructure Rehabilitation This measure has been effective at expediting projects, involving drainage upgrades only will the project timeline. be delivered by general contractors under existing construction contracts through a standard change order process as per purchasing guidelines. That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to This measure will expedite the project timeline. execute a 'cost plus' agreement with Ball The City has received a verbal confirmation Construction for the completion of the design from the Federal government on this and construction of Sportsworld Arena approach. improvements to an upset limit of $900,000; said agreement to be to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor. The King Street reconstruction project be This measure has been effective at expediting delivered by general contractors and the project timeline. consultants under existing construction contracts and consulting contracts through a standard change order process as per purchasing guidelines. That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to This measure has been effective at expediting execute any amendments to Agreements the project timeline. pertaining to Projects for which funding is approved through the Infrastructure Stimulus îì ó ç APPENDIX "C" STIMULUS PROJECT STATUS UPDATE June 2, 2010 Fund, the Recreational Infrastructure Canada Fund and the Community Adjustment Fund, if necessary, and provided said amendments are satisfactory to the City Solicitor. That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to This provision ensures that the Mayor and the execute any agreements pertaining to the Clerk have the authority to execute tenders awarded with respect to Infrastructure agreements for tenders awarded by the CAO. Stimulus Fund projects provided said agreements are satisfactory to the City Solicitor. îì ó ïð