WHITEWATER REGION (Cobden) — The Environmental Services committee met with the Council of the Township of Whitewater Region last night to give a progress report on the upgrades to Cobden’s wastewater treatment plant.
Ed Schulz, principal project manager from Jp2g Consultants Inc., gave a presentation with a status update. Janet Collins, asset management coordinator, and Lane Cleroux, manager of Public Works, also sat with Mr. Schulz before Council. As of January 24, according to Mr. Schulz, the building structure is 50 per cent complete and the above ground masonry unit walls are underway. The building is scheduled to be weather tight for April and all exterior work on the building including insulation, siding and new roofing, is scheduled to start at the end of May or the first of June.
According to the report by Jp2g Consultants, installation of all cast-in-place process, mechanical and electrical work was completed during the concrete work. The remaining work within the new building is scheduled to start in the middle of May. This will involve the installation of all exposed process piping, new process treatment trains by H20, associated chemical treatment systems.
The current schedule, as provided by Baseline Construction, is behind by approximately two months. This moves the substantial completion date of October 31 to December 2020. This is in part due to lost workdays over weather conditions and delays in rock blasting and excavation. The rock blasting and excavation took approximately one and a half months longer than estimated by the contractor because of denser than anticipated rock. This resulted in slower drilling operations which required a closer drilling pattern to
minimize any potential blasting damage to local residences and to ensure the rock was broken down to the desired sizes for removal.
“There is currently an amount of $114,603.79 being claimed by the contractor against the above noted allowance which are presently under review by Jp2g Consultants,” said Mr. Schulz. He stated they do not agree with this claim, as they believe the construction crew could have been doing other things and there was no reason for them to sit around idly. There has been a total of $227,032.32 worth of additional claims by Baseline Construction, which have been denied by Jp2g Consultants.
“The original contract was awarded at $10,980,000,” stated Mr. Schulz. There is one contingency and three allowances. Contingencies and allowances are for unforeseen issues that are encountered on the project. The contingency is $400 thousand; the cash allowance for concrete testing is $30 thousand and $18,844.16 has been spent to date; the cash allowance for a hydro transformer is $15 thousand; and the substance survey allowance is $4 thousand with $3,975 having been spent to date.
The value of the work completed to date is $3,483,584.06 The last payment was made to Baseline Construction on January 1 and there was a holdback retained. The balance of the contact, including the holdback, is approximately $7.5 million. The total amount spent on approved change orders and allowances is approximately $290.3 thousand, as of February 11. This makes the total remaining contingency approximately $109.7 thousand. Councillor Chris Olmstead expressed his concern over the contingency because he really wants to stick to that number. “Hope is not a strategy … need to fight for every nickel and dime,” said Councillor Olmstead.
According to Mr. Schulz’s presentation, holdback costs for Maintenance Security and Operation manuals will be divided and shared over the next 11 payments. The Maintenance Security holdback is held for 1.5 years to ensure the new plant can operate, without flaw, during all four seasons. The Maintenance and System Operation manual holdback is held until the manuals have been received and approved by the consultants. Mr. Schulz detailed the two manuals are usually in binders measuring 2.5 inches thick and details how the new system operates.
The contractor’s estimated date of completion is March 31, 2021. The consultant’s and Township’s anticipated completion date is December 2020.
The grant funds were received under the New Build Canada Fund (NBCF) – Small Communities Fund (SCF) to undertake major upgrades at the Cobden Wastewater Treatment Plant. The provincial and federal funding portions are each approximately $3.1 million and the total approved grant funding is approximately $6.2 million. The estimated total project cost, minus the grant funding, is approximately $6.1 million. This is to be a long term loan, with costs to be borne by Cobden sewer users over the next 30 years.
