North Huron Council has awarded the tender for the construction of the Wingham standpipe to the lone bidder, at a cost of over $5 million.
The project has been over seven years in the making, as the Township was approved for Investing in Canada Infrastructure Plan (ICIP) Green Stream funding to build a new standpipe back in 2021.
The total eligible expenses approved by the Ministry of Infrastructure under this grant was $2,852,040, with 73 per cent of those being reimbursed. As part of the grant, the project needs to reach substantial completion by October of this year.
After the project was put out for tender earlier this year, only one company bid on the contract: Greatario quoted $5,121,699 plus taxes to build the standpipe.
Director of Public Works Kevin Watson told council that their substantial completion date is July 2027.
Now that the cost of the project has nearly doubled, CAO Nelson Santos told council they will ask the Ministry for a grant extension, as well as see if more funding is available.
"Understanding that our current grant is still online through October of this year, now that we have a date for substantial completion, we'll be approaching them for an extension for the grant," said Santos. "Recognizing the value that's come in is higher than the original grant application, we'll be making delegations too, to see if we can find some additional funds that may be available for this infrastructure funding."
Santos told council there have been "good conversations" about the possibility of receiving funds that may have been returned from other projects.
If those appeals to the government are rejected though, the project cost would need to be covered solely by the Township. According to staff, considering the engineering, construction tender and other associated costs are combined, without the external grant, the approximately $6 million project would be funded by User Pay Reserves.
The project has spent a lot of time in front of council, with engineers recommending building a water tower back in 2024, before council decided to stick with the standpipe.
Watson told council that Greatario is ready to start, and demolition of the current standpipe could begin as early as next month.
