Council considered, in closed session of its monthly December 23 meeting, the six tenders received to undertake the work.
All tenders were above the budget allocated for this component. As a result, council empowered its Mayor and General Manager to negotiate with the lowest tender, to enter into a contract for works within the budget and still meeting the project aims.
The lowest tender was A P Delaney. “Council expects this will result in a good outcome and the works should commence in the first half of next year to ensure the project stays on track,” council’s General Manager Adrian Butler told The Free Press.
“A P Delaney received the highest evaluation score and was the lowest tender by a significant margin in comparison to the other tenders.”
Mr Butler said price rises due to material shortages caused by Covid and the building boom are considered the reasons why the original budget estimates are no longer sufficient.
Five conforming tenders were received following a competitive process. Inviting fresh tenders is not expected to result in a more competitive tender process.
“Inviting fresh tenders would result in delays to the project and may jeopardise existing funding requirements,” Mr Butler said.
Council’s resolution includes entering into a contract providing the price of the contract does not exceed $2.5 million.
Council will consider a further report setting out the outcome of negotiations with A P Delaney, together with a further rereview of the implications to the project budget at its next council meeting.
