The Town of Stettler awarded two contracts for work at the busy Stettler Community Hall at its town council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
The two requests for proposals, one for a new roof for the facility, another to replace flooring in the bathrooms, spruce up paint and wallpaper, and seal vinyl flooring seams.
Council budgeted $98,000 for the work in its 2016 budget, staff noted.
The work is the first phase of work planned for the hall, which was built nearly two decades ago, staff told council.
The next phase will include the reconditioning of the floor and new carpeting, new ceiling tiles, and a redesigned air conditioning system to cool the hall.
While town staff maintain the hall with day-to-day repairs, cleaning and upgrades, major work is necessary to keep the hall's integrity intact.
Jensen Flooring and Stettler Flooring submitted bids for the bathroom flooring and minor upgrades contract, with Stettler Flooring's bid of $2,485 being selected over Jensen's $4,776.19 bid.
Only one contractor bid on the roof replacement, Greg Boxma of Halkirk, council said.
Town CAO Greg Switenky said he was disappointed the town did not receive any further bids, but that Boxma's answer to the request for proposal was in line with what staff had anticipated.
Boxma provided the town with two options, a metal roof and an asphalt shingle roof. The metal roof would cost the town $57,400 and would last a decade longer than the asphalt shingles.
The shingles would cost the town $61,400 and would last approximately 20 years, council was told.
After discussing other factors, such as weight, appearance and weather noise – council expressed concerns that rain on a metal roof would echo loudly in the hall – council voted to accept Boxma's asphalt shingle proposal.
Town test drives new machineryIn the 2016 budget, the town set aside $300,000 of its Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) grant money to be used in purchasing a new-wheeled excavator.
The machinery has never been used by the town before, but was felt necessary for working in tighter spaces where a backhoe was unable to fit, Melissa Robbins, director of operations, explained to mayor and councillors.
The town received six bids, but before purchasing insisted on a test drive. Since staff had not used the machinery before, it was vital that staff perception of the vehicle was factored into the final decision. That experience could only be gained through a test drive.
Bidders were:Wayjax – Hitachi – $323,400Strongco – Volvo – $303,605Brandt – John Deere – $303,180Finning – Cat – $299,484C.E.M. Heavy Equipment – Hyundai – $258,100Lift Boss – Doosan – $256,185
Not all bidders were able to provide a model for a test drive, and were eliminated.
Each of the bids came with a one year, 1,000-hour full machine warranty, but Hyundai came with an additional warranty at a "reasonable rate," Robbins reported. For $8,390, staff could receive a five-year, 5,000-hour machine warranty.
In the end, C.E.M.'s bid, which was the second lowest, was chosen based on the test-drive, research into the model, price and the additional warranty option.
Council raised concerns that two businesses did not have test drives. Robbins assured councillors all vendors were provided with an opportunity to do so, but the vendor did not have the model in stock.
The next town council meeting is on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 6:30 p.m.