Design oversight saves Paradise money

By Mark Squibb / August 25, 2023

The Town of Paradise is in almost $50,000, but only because a design mishap has reduced the scope of work on upgrades to one of the town’s lift stations.

Council, back in January, awarded a tender to Rodco Mechanical Ltd., in the amount of $299,345, HST included, to replace the mechanical piping, valves, and associated components in the Woodstock lift station.

“The project included the addition of stemmed extensions on the new plug valves,” said councillor Larry Vaters. “The stem extensions would allow staff to exercise — in other words, open or close — the valves from outside the chamber as part of regular maintenance.”

Vaters said the tender was based on early design drawings, but that during the tender period it was discovered that the diameter of the discharge connections was 15 millimetres larger than indicated on the Town’s design drawings.

“This means, that there isn’t sufficient space between the discharge piping and the wall of the chamber to install the stem extensions,” explained Vaters. “The engineering consultant and the contractor have recommend removing the stem extensions from the project scope.”

Vaters added the absence of the stem extensions would not negatively impact the performance or operation of the valves.

Due to the error, the contractor offered the Town a credit of $47,150, plus HST.

There was no dissuasion on the matter, except that councillor Patrick Martin noted it was not often that council receives a credit on projects, as typically they are being asked to spend more money.

Vater’s also noted the project is funded through the federal government’s Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF) and any unspent funds will be reallocated elsewhere upon completion of the project.

In addition to the upgrades, council, back in January, paid $49,695, HST included, to repair a malfunctioning pump at the same lift station.

The Woodstock lift station meanwhile is not to be confused with the notorious Lift Station # 10 at the corner of St. Thomas Line and Paradise Road which suffered a major malfunction back in 2019 that cost the Town millions.

That lift station is being rebuilt at a cost of $23 million.