The upgrading of Ladysmith’s Waste Water Treatment Plant can move ahead after council gave town staff the go-ahead to negotiate a contract for engineering services for the project.
Council voted Nov. 19 to authorize staff to negotiate a contract with Opus Dayton and Knight Consultants for the engineering services for the Stage 3 Waste Water Treatment Plant upgrade project after receiving a peer review of the proposed fee structure.
Council had already given direction to staff to executive a fee-for-service contract with Opus Dayton and Knight (ODK) for the pre-design, design and tendering contracts of the upgrade project. The proposal also includes quantity surveyor and geotechnical engineering services.
Earlier in 2012, council received a report from staff regarding the procurement of engineering services for the project. Council asked staff to obtain an opinion from an independent professional engineering consultant regarding whether the work program and fee program were appropriate and within the range of recommended fees for this type of work. Dwayne Kalynchuk, the director of engineering and public works for the City of Victoria, was requested to provide an opinion on the fee proposal submitted by ODK.
“Mr. Kalynchuk is of the opinion that the fees and services proposed by ODK is a fair proposal, with hourly estimates and rates well within the guidelines recommended by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BCV, and the Redbook for Consulting Services, published by [the American Public Works Association],” John Manson, Ladysmith's director of infrastructure services, wrote in his staff report.
A fee-for-services contract in the range of $800,000 will be negotiated for this work. The design fees are part of the Town of Ladysmith’s 2012 and proposed 2013 budgets for the upgrading of the treatment plant.