The mayor of Papineau-Cameron has come up with a number of suggestions involving the Cassellholme redevelopment.
Robert Corriveau has written a letter to all nine of the Cassellholme member municipalities and various provincial politicians, including the Ministers of Long-Term Care and Infrastructure.
“It is fair to say we are at a place none of us expected to be when we began this process ten years ago but, I believe that presents us with a real opportunity to take control to get things right,” he writes. “I am therefore suggesting that we unanimously call on the province to support our municipalities in requiring the Board of Management to redo a proper tendering process.”
“As we know, the Ontario Construction Association cited serious concerns with the initial tender, which in turn limited the range of qualified respondents to a single company,” Corriveau adds. “We will never know if the price and terms being imposed on us are fair and reasonable if we have nothing to compare to and I believe we owe it to our taxpayers to try to get competitive bids from no less than three qualified contractors.”
He also makes five other suggestions for consideration.
One is to alter the membership of the Board of Management to include at least three skills-based members with experience in areas like construction management and municipal finance.
Another is to determine what reasonable per bed construction costs are for the redevelopment of a Term Care facility.
Two others revolve around the financing guarantee while the last looks to start discussions with the province about make the terms of belonging to and exiting a Board of Management fairer to member municipalities.
