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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFIN-09-119 - Stimulus Project Update - September 2009REPORT REPORT TO: Councillor Berry Vrbanovic, Chair, and Members of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: October 5, 2009 SUBMITTED BY: Dan Chapman, General Manager of Financial Services PREPARED BY: Jaya Chatterjee, Junior Financial Analyst WARD(S) INVOLVED: All DATE OF REPORT: September 29, 2009 REPORT NO.: FIN-09-119 SUBJECT: STIMULUS PROJECT UPDATE - SEPTEMBER 2009 RECOMMENDATION: THAT the following measures be adopted to accelerate the implementation of Infrastructure Stimulus Fund projects: The extension of purchase order number 200387 for Architect consulting services provided by Giffels Associates Limited/ IBI Group in the amount of $222,961.66 including disbursements and GST related to the Consolidated Maintenance Facility Improvements project; The extension of purchase order number 200572 for Mechanical and Electrical consulting services provided by Morrison Hershfield Limited in the amount of $470,452.50 including disbursements and GST related to the Consolidated Maintenance Facility Improvements project; The extension of purchase order number 200459 for LEED consultant services provided by Morrison Hershfield Limited in the amount of $92,635.66 including disbursements and GST related to the Consolidated Maintenance Facility Improvements project; The extension of purchase order number 200840 for consulting services provided by The Walter Fedy Partnership in the amount of $223,174.88 including disbursements and GST related to the McLennan Park Infrastructure Improvement project; That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute a 'cost plus' agreement with Ball Construction for the completion of the design and construction of Sportsworld Arena improvements to an upset limit of $900,000; said agreement to be to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor. THAT the following measure be adopted to accelerate the implementation of the Community Adjustment Fund project: The King Street reconstruction project be delivered by general contractors and consultants under existing construction contracts and consulting contracts through a standard change order process as per purchasing guidelines é ó ï THAT the following measure be adopted to accelerate the implementation of any project for which funding is approved through the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, the Recreational Infrastructure Canada Fund and the Community Adjustment Fund: That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute any amendments to Agreements pertaining to Projects for which funding is approved through the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, the Recreational Infrastructure Canada Fund and the Community Adjustment Fund, if necessary, and provided said amendments are satisfactory to the City Solicitor. 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 are 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. Project timelines in Appendix B have been updated based on information supplied by the respective project managers. No further revisions will be made to plan from this point forward, and future reports will track actual progress against this plan. It should be noted that construction start dates are later than what was envisioned in the original project applications as a result of more detailed planning and the timing of Federal/Provincial approvals and agreements. King Street Reconstruction On September 4, 2009, it was announced that the City of Kitchener will be receiving funding in the amount of $1.23 million for the King Street reconstruction project under the Community Adjustment Fund (CAF). This fund is a national two-year, $1-billion economic stimulus measure announced as part of the Government of Canada's Economic Action Plan. CAF is intended to provide economic stimulus to mitigate the short-term impacts of the economic downturn by creating employment opportunities and to address transitional and adjustment challenges in restructuring industries or communities. Projects under CAF funding must be completed before March 31, 2010. The CAF fund will enable enhancements on King Street as well as the extension of the streetscape treatment to College and Young Streets along the City Hall frontage. 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 below: é ó î 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. RInC and CAF agreements the Recreational Infrastructure Canada Fund, are still pending. subject to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor. The Chief Administrative Officer is designated No purchasing approvals have been granted to award tenders on Infrastructure Stimulus by the CAO for ISF projects to date. Fund projects provided that the costs are within the projected expenses outlined in the applications and they are reported to Council by way of the bi-monthly update report. Consultants involved in the preliminary phases This measure has been effective at expediting be retained and the consultant selection the McLennan Park timeline. Additional process be waived for: extensions are recommended within this report. McLennan Park – Walter Fedy Partnership For Consultant projects over $100,000, cost This measure has been effective at expediting information is to be included with the original the following projects: submission, the interview process is to be Storm Water - Infrastructure waived, and the selection will be based on the Rehabilitation original submissions. Bridgeport Community Centre – Architect Expression of Interest For Storm Water Infrastructure Rehabilitation This measure will expedite the project. projects, involving drainage upgrades only, will be delivered by general contractors under existing construction contracts through a standard change order process as per purchasing guidelines The following additional measures are proposed as being required to support the construction of the City’s stimulus projects in accordance with the timelines established under the program(s): Consolidated Maintenance Facility The Consolidated Maintenance Facility Infrastructure project will be delivered as a part of the larger Consolidated Maintenance Facility project. It is virtually impossible to separate the infrastructure stimulus component from the main project. In light of this, and in order to expedite the implementation of the project, it is recommended that the consultants involved for the original scope of CMF work should be retained for the enhanced portion of the project by extending existing contracts as follows: purchase order number 200387 for Architect consulting services provided by Giffels Associates Limited/ IBI Group in the amount of $222,961.66 including disbursements and GST é ó í purchase order number 200572 for Mechanical and Electrical consulting services provided by Morrison Hershfield Limited in the amount of $470,452.50 including disbursements and GST purchase order number 200459 for LEED consultant services provided by Morrison Hershfield Limited in the amount of $92,635.66 including disbursements and GST In those cases where the Consultant has already been retained and have executed an Agreement, the City will need to amend the existing agreement to reflect the adjustments to the Purchase Order and incorporate the relevant provisions from the Funding Agreements as it relates to the project(s). A general resolution has been included in the report recommendations to this effect, and will be applicable in all similar instances. McLennan Park Development On January 26, 2009 the McLennan Park Phase Two development was awarded to The Walter Fedy Partnership in the amount of $185,747.63, including contingency and GST. This award was prior to the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund projects and the scope consisted of a roadway extension, additional parking, accessible playground, basketball courts, sand volleyball courts, additional trails and additional landscaping. On June 29, 2009 an extension of the consulting services in the amount of $69,688.50 including disbursements and GST, related to McLennan Park was approved as part of the Infrastructure Stimulus Funding. The scope of the fee extension included the completion of the roadway network, parking, lighting and the completed community trail system. An additional extension of fees in the amount of $223,174.88 including contingency and GST is now required to complete the balance of the McLennan Park concept plan as financed through the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund. This work will include consultant services for the washroom building, splash pad, skateboard park, public art coordination, picnic shelter and associated site grading, site servicing, lighting, signage and landscape features. The project schedule has been adjusted to allow for the additional design time throughout 2009, with construction occurring in 2010 and completed by December 2010 in accordance with the guidelines and timelines of Infrastructure Stimulus Fund. Sportsworld Arena Upgrade The original Sportsworld Twin Pad project was completed as a 'design/build' project through Ball Construction. As a result of the financial condition of the original building owner, 'as built' drawings were never completed. These drawings are required to complete the City’s upgrade project. If the City were to hire a consultant to measure the building, do a complete inventory, and create 'as built' drawings, it would be considerably more expensive and also would take additional time to create the drawings versus having Ball Construction continue from where they stopped in the original project. Ball Construction has extensive knowledge and documentation related to this building which would be difficult to obtain for the purpose of defining a proper scope of work and completing the design and construction to an upset limit of $900,000. There are efficiencies related to the overall cost and the schedule by completing the design and construction through Ball Construction. It is therefore recommended that the City source the completion of ‘as built’ construction drawings and enter into a ‘cost plus’ construction management arrangement with Ball é ó ì Construction, as the combined fee would be more attractive than just for producing the tender set. As previously stated, Ball's advantage is that they own the design and know what work needs to be done to finish the building. A ‘cost plus’ arrangement is an open book construction management approach in that the City will pay for actual labour and material spent on the project, along with a fee to the construction manager. The construction work will be tendered by the construction manager to multiple bidders to ensure that competitive bidding has occurred. In the end, this approach is economical because the City will save in engineering costs and general contracting costs such as allowances for unknown conditions as is typical for a renovation project of this nature. Ball Construction will provide full value engineering and provide all tendering, prequalifying and selecting the proper bidders for the work. Timely commencement of the project may also avoid the escalation in pricing which will likely occur as an increasing number of infrastructure stimulus construction projects go out to tender. King Street Reconstruction It is also recommended that the King Street reconstruction project under the Community Adjustment Fund be expedited by utilizing existing general contractors and current construction contracts through a standard change order process as per purchasing guidelines. Change orders would then be used to track costs and submitted for reimbursement to the Federal and Provincial governments. Design and construction efficiencies will be achieved through the utilization of existing consultant and contractors undertaking work related to the King Street Streetscape Reconstruction project in order to achieve the March 31, 2010 deadline for completion of said work. The scope of work is defined in the Community Adjustment Fund application, which includes additional work on the King Street Streetscape Reconstruction Project as well as streetscape improvements along College Street and Young Street adjacent to Kitchener City Hall. Section 3 – Federal/Provincial Program Updates As requested by the Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Energy, Staff have compiled and submitted additional information on the Aquatic Facility Upgrade project (RInC) and Solar Retrofits project (GIF). It is expected that a funding decision on both these projects will be made shortly. These are the only two applications still awaiting a final decision. Staff is in the process of preparing an application to the Ontario Power Authority for approval of the CMF Solar Roof project under the Feed In Tariff program. It is anticipated that applications will be received as of October 1 and that initial decisions will be made on applications in 2009. At the August 10 Finance and Corporate Services meeting, Council requested Staff to provide information on the possibility of leveraging funds from the Green Infrastructure Fund to enhance the capacity of the City’s Local Environmental Action Fund (LEAF). Staff has determined that the current applications under the LEAF program are ineligible for joint funding under the Green Infrastructure Fund program as they have already been approved for funding by the City and costs have already been incurred in most cases. Staff will consider incorporating the potential to leverage Green Infrastructure Funds as part of the next intake of applications under LEAF. é ó ë Section 4 – Other Information This report represents the series of bi-monthly updates to Finance and Corporate Services Committee on the status of the City’s Stimulus Funding Projects. Similar reports will be provided to Committee on December 7, 2009, February 8, 2010, April 12, 2010, June 5, 2010, August 23, 2010, October 12, 2009, and December 13, 2010. Subsequent to the approval of the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund projects, three additional projects were approved under the Recreational Infrastructure Canada Fund and Community Adjustment Fund, bringing the total number of projects to 12. Additionally, the accountability requirements of the programs are quite significant and exceed the requirements of previous grant programs. In light of the current workload, the working hours of the Junior Financial Analyst assigned to this program will be extended from 24 up to 35 hours per week over next 3 months until the end of December 2009. The Analyst is responsible for assembling cost documentation, facilitating quarterly ISF Expenditure and Job Creation Reports, preparing claim submissions, and overall program coordination. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The anticipated cost of extending the Junior Financial Analyst from 24 to 35 hours per week until the end of the year will be $4,500 and will be funded out of the City’s capital contingency. COMMUNICATION: To assist in ensuring these infrastructure funds are spent in an open, transparent and accountable manner, staff has developed a full communications plan, containing various communications tools that will give residents an opportunity to track the progress of these projects on a regular basis. These tools, which are in the process of being implemented, include: Project signage at all project sites, recognizing federal and provincial funding support; Project-specific web pages featuring an interactive map showing all project sites, to ensure a user friendly way for citizens to access information on each project. The web pages will include background on each project, as well as status updates as they are provided by the project managers. Project progress reports in every edition of Your Kitchener until the projects are complete; and Media releases and/or media events at the completion of each project. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Dan Chapman, General Manager of Financial Services & City Treasurer é ó ê é ó é é ó è