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by Neil Zacharjewicz
EDITOR'S NOTE - On Monday, August 30th, council for the
Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands held a special council
meeting to meet with each of the three parties that bid on the
Waterfront Development Project, to hear presentations on why they
should be hired and for council to pose any questions it might have of
each of the groups. The following is an account of each of the
presentations, followed by the reaction and thoughts of council on the
matter.
Wm. R. Walker
With their past experience dealing with marinas across
the North Shore, the representatives of the bid by Wm. R. Walker
Engineering Inc. felt their firm would be the ideal prime consultant
for the Little Current Waterfront Development Project.
Doug Leask, the representative for the Walker bid,
indicated the company felt it had a good team for the job. The Walker
team include Hans Susstrunk, a coastal engineer with experience in
recreational marine projects as well as larger projects; Franco
Pastore, of EPO Architects; local surveyor Gord Keatley; and Dave
Holla, a former employee of the Ministry of Natural Resources, who
would handle all of the environmental and biological work.
One of the first things the Walker team would have to
look at would be the development of an implementation plan, to give
the project some direction. Then, Mr. Leask said, they would
brainstorm some development concepts. He recommended a public meeting
early on in the process, to gather input. He suggested there should be
a strong architectural concept throughout the project, to determine
the cultural feeling of the buildings and to ensure that the work was
consistent. After the information had been gathered, the team would
move on to the detailed designs, followed by the tender process. Once
all of that was complete, construction could begin.
Mr. Pastore suggested the Post Office building would
make a good focal point for the project, and the team would have to
sit down with the users groups and the town, as owners of the
building, to determine the intended uses and what the market would
support.
In the event that funding was not immediately available
for one component of the project, Mr. Leask said, then there would be
a few options council could consider without ever having to change the
implementation plan. However, he suggested the wrong thing for the
town to do would be to spend the funds without ever having a plan in
place.
All funding requests would be handled in-house, he
said. Mr. Leask indicated.
When questioned about what would be the biggest
obstacles for the project, Mr. Leask expressed concern about approvals
from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Ministry of
Natural Resources (MNR), which could take time. He noted that DFO
would likely prefer the work be done between August 1st and September
15th.
"That is not enough time to build a cruise ship dock,"
he noted. Another concern Mr. Leask had was with regard to the time it
would take to secure funding.
Two items that could be grouped together to save the
municipality some money would be the upgrading of the wharf and the
addition of new finger docks. If a tender was chosen by March 1st, he
said when the weather started to clear up, the workers would have a
full season to complete the project, and the town might realize some
savings from firms anxious for the first jobs of the year. Later in
the year, he said, the town might face problems with a lack of
competitive pricing.
For a good idea of what the company could produce, he
advised the town to visit the marina in Spanish, which Walker
Engineering was responsible for. He also noted the firm recently
finished an implementation plan for the marina project in Gore Bay.
In the event that something occurred outside of the
scope of the original project, Mr. Leask indicated the firm would
approach council for approval prior to taking any action.
"(The project) will be closely controlled by the
owner," he said. "You are not just going to be receiving invoices."
Mr. Leask assured council he felt the team he had
assembled would fulfill the needs of the project.
Little Current Consortium
The members of the Little Current Consortium indicated
it wasn't enough to simple get a waterfront project under way. What
Little Current really needs, they suggested, is something innovative.
The key members of the project team for the Little
Current Consortium include Rodger Todhunter, of Todhunter and
Associates, who would be responsible for the master plan; Ray
Spangler, who has worked for the town on various projects in the last
20 years, and who would serve as the engineering manager and handle
contract coordination and implementation; Tom Hluchan, of SHAL
Consulting Engineers, a firm specializing in the design of ports and
marine structures; and Dennis Castellan, who would handle the urban
design and architecture components of the project.
Mr. Todhunter indicated that all of the members of the
project team had worked together in the past, and the town would
benefit from that continuity. Furthermore, he indicated that the
consortium had extensive contacts with the Department of Fisheries and
Oceans (DFO) and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) for handling
any project approvals.
He suggested holding a public meeting early in the
process, with numerous diagrams and some aerial photography so that
residents could see what was being proposed. One key element of the
proposal, he indicated, would be the ability to fast track components
of the project. It was noted by Mr. Todhunter that the team would have
to look at tailoring projects to the funding windows of organizations
like FedNor and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC)
to ensure elements of the proposal moved forward when the opportunity
presented itself.
It was noted by Mr. Castellan that there would also be
opportunities to realize funding by looking at energy-saving projects
for the multi-use building envision as part of the project.
Mr. Hluchan indicated he specialized in the design of
marine structures, and noted he brought with him the ability to look
at things with fresh eyes and a clean perspective. He pointed out he
has done a lot of work in the Caribbean, and has experience with
cruise ships. As well, he indicated he was well versed in the new
security requirements of ports. He pointed out that he was involved in
the development of the Coast Guard docks in Parry Sound and Prescott,
as well as the marine facilities in Nasau, one of the Caribbean's
premier destinations.
One area of concern, Mr. Spangler suggested, was that
the town considered the cruise ship dock to be its first priority. He
pointed out that completing an Environmental Assessment could be time
consuming, it would be an expensive project, and construction would
take time. However, he noted the town could implement one of the other
projects while the work on the cruise ship dock was under way.
Mr. Todhunter suggested one thing the project should
look at was how to funnel cruise ship passengers and boaters into the
downtown area. One of the real selling points of Little Current, he
noted, was the proximity of the downtown area to where the boats
docked.
One thing Mr. Hluchan suggested to council was to
ensure it built a cruise ship dock large enough to not only handle the
cruise ships that currently visit the area, but to also envision the
cruise ships that might visit the area in the future. He pointed out
the cruise ship companies tend toward larger boats with more
passengers, and the town would want a longer dock with a greater draft
than what the town currently has to offer.
"I don't know the channel yet, but I intend to know it
better," Mr. Hluchan said.
Earth Tech
The representatives behind the Earth Tech bid have
suggested that the objective of the Little Current Waterfront Project
is to promote community economic development by establishing the port
of Little Current as a "must visit" destination for recreational
boaters, cruise ships and land-based tourists.
"We consider it our mission to make sure this objective
is achieved," stated Dave Caverson, project manager for the Earth Tech
team. "We will control project costs for you, and the project
schedule. We consider ourselves your partners."
The Little Current Waterfront Project, he suggested, is
the type of project a town undertakes only once every few generations,
and he said the team understood the need for community involvement.
"If you ask us to provide you with the Volkswagen, we
will provide you with the best Volkswagen possible. If you ask us to
provide you with the Cadillac, we will provide you with the best
Cadillac possible," Mr. Caverson said. "We consider ourselves a
full-service delivery firm."
Furthermore, he noted the firm could provide the town
information on a weekly basis as to where the project stood in terms
of budget and schedule.
"This is a project that requires the needs of a variety
of diverse people," suggested Doug Whitney, the marine and structural
engineer for the project. He said while the firm had put together a
team of 11 specialist for the project, Earth Tech's resources allowed
them to call on as many as 100 people if needed.
Bob Dobbin, master planner and landscape architect for
the project, guided council through a variety of projects Earth Tech
has undertaken in the past, including the Marina Park, Pier Three
Waterfront Park and Kaministikwia River Heritage Park in Thunder Bay;
the La Salle Park Marina in Burlington; the Bronte Waterfront Park and
Marina in Oakville; and the Berkshire Pumping Station in London.
"We have the diversity to design whatever," Mr. Dobbin
suggested.
Mr. Caverson pointed out that Oscar Paloni, of KPMG, is
a member of the Earth Tech project team, and so the team was familiar
with the KPMG Strategic Business Plan for Little Current. He indicated
the company was comfortable with the cost outlines provided in that
report. Furthermore, he noted the project would be structured into
four stages: the master plan, the preliminary design, the detailed
design and then the tendering process. This would then be followed by
construction. He added he felt the four stages could be achieved as
early as August of 2005.
It was noted by Mr. Whitney that Chris Wright, of the
Meriport Group, was also involved in the project, and the team planned
to use Mr. Wright to work out the best configuration for the cruise
ship dock. He noted Mr. Wright is "very familiar" with what is
required to service cruise ships, and is also quite familiar with
Little Current. Because of his familiarity, Mr. Whitney said it was
unlikely that Mr. Wright would have to visit the area very often.
However, if his services were required on-site, arrangements could be
made.
Mr. Caverson said he believed that Earth Tech was
offering the town a complete package.
"We will do this work at this price," he said, noting
the company wasn't looking to add charges to its bill. He noted the
work plan the company has offered the town was quite flexible, and
Earth Tech could begin any project council wanted them to approach at
any time. He said the company has broken down each of the projects the
town has identified separately within their proposal.
Council Response
After hearing presentations from each of the three
bidders, council for the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the
Islands huddled with Morrow Del Fonte of FedNor and Glenn Warren of
the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), the
representatives for two of the town's primary funding sources for the
project.
Mayor Joe Chapman deemed the meeting a worthwhile
exercise, and asked each councillor to provide their thoughts on what
they had heard.
While there was no question that all three proposals
came from competent groups, Councillor Jim Stringer said he favoured
the Little Current Consortium. He said that the consortium's proposal
"feels the most local."
Earth Tech certainly had the right team, Councillor Sam
Nardi said, and he liked the fact they had recruited Oscar Paloni of
KPMG for the project team. However, he said he was concerned about the
cost of the Earth Tech proposal, and suggested he was leaning toward
the "nuts and bolts" approach of Walker Engineering.
Councillor Jib Turner indicated he ruled out the Earth
Tech bid because he did not feel they were well prepared. For the
amount they were looking to charge the town, he said, he figured they
should have done more work. He noted that he was impressed to see SHAL
Consulting and Tom Hluchan involved in the Little Current Consortium
bid. Councillor Turner said he felt Mr. Hluchan had a good grasp of
the engineering required for the project.
"We won't get two shots at this," he said.
Walker Engineering had a price Councillor Tony Ferro
said he would not shy away from, and he liked the schedule the company
proposed. He said the company had demonstrated they had done their
homework.
If the town had unlimited resources, Councillor Gary
Green said, then he would advocate for Earth Tech. However, he said
the Little Current Consortium bid was closer to what the town
required, though he was torn between that proposal and the "cost
effective" proposal put forward by Walker Engineering.
Mayor Chapman said he was impressed with how the Earth
Tech proposal mirrored the KPMG Strategic Business Study, but that he
was shying away from that bid. He said he was impressed with the
Little Current Consortium's overall approach, and expressed concern
that the Walker Engineering proposal did not go into a lot of depth.
Mr. Warren agreed that Walker Engineering did not
appear to be as well prepared as the other presentations, and noted
that the Little Current Consortium had a lot of expertise to grab the
listeners attention. He suggested each of the councillors had
demonstrated good rationale in choosing the proposals they were
considering.
While Earth Tech had the best proposal, Mr. Del Fonte
likened the situation to the New York Yankees in the 2003 World
Series: the team with the highest payroll does not always win. He
noted the town would have to do a Class Environmental Assessment as
part of the funding requirements for the project.
"It sounds like a lot, but really it's not.
Environmental stuff is not insurmountable," he said.
However, he reminded council that it had a great deal
of capacity within its own organization, and it did have an
opportunity to work directly with the chosen bidder on the project.
"This is a huge project for any community," Mr. Del
Fonte said. He noted that while the town had some money in reserves
for the project, it was going to need a lot more.
Councillor Jib Turner pointed out the town was prepared
to conduct the project in a number of phases.
"Realistically, that is the only way you are going to
get the money," Mr. Warren suggested.
Council agreed to consider each of the proposals, and
scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, September 7th to discuss the issue
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