The Morrisburg Plaza was built during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway almost 70 years ago, so it isn’t surprising that the infrastructure surrounding it is in need of replacement and refurbishment. It is a cost that would have to be paid at some point, and these things never seem to get cheaper over time. Tinkess Photo

MORRISBURG – Despite tenders coming in at higher than the expected cost, South Dundas Council decided to go ahead with plans to complete an extensive refurbishment of the Morrisburg Plaza.

The decision came during a special meeting of Council held on July 22. All members of council were present for the online meeting, and viewed a presentation made by David Jansen, Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities.

Jansen provided a brief history of the 70-year-old plaza and explained that the scope of the refreshment and refurbishment would include asphalt replacement, curb upgrades and a redesign of the parking layout. It would also include sidewalk and courtyard replacements and the replacement of the canopy foundations. Jansen also explained that it made sense at the same time to complete upgrades to the water, sewer and storm infrastructure, rather than wait for portions of it to fail and replace them on an as needed basis.

“We have seen over a dozen water breaks in this mall in the last couple years, whether it’s behind in the courtyard, out by the pharmacy and stuff like that,” said Jansen. “So, we know our infrastructure there is aging and it’s just something that we’re working towards replacing here. We’re hoping that this new design will help eliminate a lot of those items.

The tender for the project was issued on June 25, and it closed on July 15. Three fully compliant bids were received:

  • Cornwall Gravel Company Ltd. $5,263,105.37 (Lowest compliant bid)
  • GIP Paving Inc. $5,299,411.50
  • R. W. Tomlinson Limited. $6,421,803.60

In addition, there would be approximately $150,000 in ancillary costs, things like replacing the pylon sign, consulting fees, and when removing the clock tower, to add some items of historic value to the courtyard.

Both Cornwall Gravel and R. W. Tomlinson estimated that this would be a 30-week project and that it would stretch over parts of two years. Phase one (August-November 2026) would involve civil work with the north side being the priority. The site, when shutdown, would be left in a clean, snow-plowable condition.

Phase two (Spring-July1, 2027) would see the completion of all work before Canada Day.

Jansen asked Council to remember that the cost of the project was expected to be allocated to three different budgets:

  • Taxation (surface infrastructure) $4,298,617
  • Water rate (water main infrastructure) $747,577
  • Sewer rate (sanitary sewer relining) $216,911

Jansen, when reviewing the three bids looked for areas where there might be a slight change in scope that would help reduce the total cost. One suggestion was to not extend the work to the separate portion of the plaza that is east of the former Beer Store. He estimated that this would save or at least defer $265,000 between the taxation and the water rate, but he cautioned that if that work was to be done in the future, it would have to be retendered and there were no guarantees what the price would be at that time.

As he concluded his presentation, Jansen provided three possible options for Council’s consideration:

  • Not move ahead with the project and not award the tender
  • Defer the motion and review further with more input from Council
  • Move ahead with the project (recommended), possibly reducing the scope

He summarized by stating that the 2026 budget for this project was approximately $3.45 million, but even with reducing the scope of the project, with ancillary costs and a 5 per cent contingency, it would end up at approximately $5.775 million.

With the presentation complete, Mayor Jason Broad opened the meeting up for questions from the Council members. Councillor Cole Veinotte was the first to speak. He was in favour of approving the tender and moving ahead with the project without reducing its scope. “Those unit rates (in the tenders) are based on the equipment and the people and everybody already being there,” said Councillor Veinotte. “So, if we choose to do that, you know, four or five years down the road, the cost of it inevitably will be more. It’s still going to be more expensive down the road. It’s all got to get done at some point.”

Next to speak was Deputy Mayor Marc St. Pierre and he asked if there was any indication from pre-tender conversations over what was driving the price up, and secondly, was asphalt and fuel costs having an effect. Director Jansen advised that there were no real pre-bid conversations, but he added that the price of asphalt in 2026 is up between 40 and 50 per cent, which definitely had an effect.

The Deputy Mayor went on to say that he agreed with Councillor Veinotte, that the full project as quoted should go ahead, as splitting it up would only add to increased costs down the road. He was also in favour of funding the project through reserves and grants such as the Ontario Community Infrastructure fund (OCIF) rather than through outside financing but added that there needed to be a way to inform future Councils what the thought process was, that they would essentially self-fund, and replenish the reserve funds over future years rather than pay interest to an outside lender.

Councillor Tom Smyth said his opinion was that this should be deferred to allow the next term of Council to have their input in the project. “My vote would be just to defer this until the next council gets their chance to have their say,” said Councillor Smyth. “I do not like spending the next council’s money, and so, I’m not going to say that this does not need to be done. It does need to be done. But for right now, my vote would be to defer until, you know, November or some time period like that, and we can put it right into next year’s budget.”

Councillor Smyth also asked if that were to happen, would it have to be retendered, and was it possible to complete the entire project in one season if it started in early spring. Director Jansen advised that yes, it would have to be retendered, and that completing the project in one construction season would probably not be possible.

Councillor Danielle Ward asked what would happen if the OCIF funding was used for this project, what would happen to the projects where the funds would typically be used. She was advised that other projects would be scaled back.

Councillor Ward also inquired whether the municipality had the capacity over the next five years to fund other projects they might have to fund. She was advised by Treasurer Julie Stewart that it was difficult to provide an exact dollar figure without knowing what projects might come up in the future, but that the Municipality was in good financial health and has sufficient debt capacity currently.

At the end of the discussion Mayor Broad read the motion that Council award the Morrisburg Plaza Infrastructure Rehabilitation Tender to Cornwall Gravel in the total amount of $5,263,105.37 plus HST to be funded across multiple municipal budgets outlined with and that Council approve the upset budget of $5,775,673 including HST and that the funding include ancillary costs and scope if required and further that council and clerk and Director of Parks and Recreation facilitate and execute the necessary documents with a successful bidder. The motion was moved by Councillor Ward and seconded by Deputy Mayor St. Pierre. Councillor Smyth was the only dissenting vote.