City of Powell River Council recently approved its first piece of equipment for the consolidated wastewater treatment plant.
At the October 15 city council meeting, councillors voted for an expenditure of $677,117.20, plus GST, for a screening system to be installed to remove large objects such as rags, paper, plastics and metals to prevent damage of clogging of downstream equipment, piping and appurtenances, according to a staff report from manager of engineering services Nagi Rizk.
Speaking at the meeting, Rizk said the design of the new consolidated wastewater treatment plant is nearing completion. In order to complete the design, eight selected equipment supply contracts are to be awarded, and once they have been, design of the new plant can be completed based on specifications and shop drawings provided by each awarded supplier.
As for the screening system, Rizk said the city had put it out for tender on BC Bid, which has worldwide reach, and the city had two proposals for the equipment. He said the equipment is very specialized so he is not surprised by the low number of bids. Rizk said the bid being put before council was the highest scoring on the evaluation matrix. Evaluation criteria for the purchase was based on capital cost, maintenance requirement, compliance with technical specifications and performance of the equipment, verified by third-party testing, technical support and references.
Rizk said the maintenance requirement was the deciding factor in the recommendation to accept the bid from Hydro-Dyne Engineering. Rizk said he was looking for council’s approval to issue a purchase order for the screening system. He said purchase of the equipment would help finalize the design of the plant.
“The specs are ready and there are about 875 pages,” said Rizk. “We’re moving along really fast.”
Councillor George Doubt said it was exciting to see that construction is actually starting. He said one thing that wasn’t in the report was whether there was a budgeted amount for this particular piece of equipment.
“Are we at budget, under budget or over budget?” asked Doubt.
Rizk confirmed that the bid came in under budget.
“That’s a very good answer,” said Doubt.
Mayor Dave Formosa said with regard to the bid that council was contemplating, anything over $500,000 had to come to city council for approval. Anything under $500,000 can be approved by the chief administrative officer.
Council carried the vote for the screening system unanimously.
