Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor:
Whitewat‎er Region has a Purchasing Bylaw #08-04-333 that states that for all purchases over $20,000 “By approved public tender.” 
One of the exceptions to this is: “where the requirement is for professional services provider.”
Whitewater Region Council had already given a contract to Jp2g for an Environmental  Assessment (EA) Study and ‎Project Management Services during Detailed Design & Construction totalling more than $420,000. This was done with no public tenders for those services even though there are lots of consultants that could have bid. Why? 
To add insult to injury, in a council meeting Whitewater Region Council approved an additional $381,840 for Jp2g which as I understand brings the total to over $800,000 for a consultant ‎that Council hired with no due diligence and a complete disregard for fiscal responsibility. Are those additional funds requested giving Whitewater Region value for that money?
My recommendation would be to hold off approving that amount until after the design-build bids are received.  
Were there any comments or questions from any council member concerning the additional cost for Jp2g?
With a maximum guideline for engineering and project management of 15 percent of total project cost, it will be interesting to see who picks up the tab if they go over. 
For the people who attended the November 2016 information meeting on the status of the EA Study, they were advised that given the present estimated cost of the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) the average sewage rate will go up approximately 60 percent. This is a huge increase for a small community.
In documents from Jp2g, the proposed design of the upgraded WPCP will be able to support  a population of over15,000 people. That’s great news for the people around Muskrat Lake but for the people of Cobden who are paying for the plant upgrade it begs the question: Why? 
Will Cobden really grow to 15,000 people during the life expectancy of this plant?
I would suggest that Whitewater Region Council needs to revise the purchasing bylaw so that all purchases of professional services should go out for public tender to make certain Whitewater Region gets the best value for money being spent. We need better management and more accountability from our council.
Jp2g aren’t the only consultants that have experience designing this type of plant!

Regards
Donald W. Deer. P. Eng.
Cobden