Les Entreprises Michaudville of St. Hilaire won a contract in Montreal for more than $5 million in sewage and water main repairs under the Project Bonaventure, a major project to add a boulevard at ground level between Notre Dame and the Lachine canal in place of the expressway built on stilts in 1966.
Montreal estimated the cost of the contract at $3.5 million, the bid from Michaudville came in at $4.5 million; add to that contingencies and incidental costs, the total expenditure will be closer to $5 million.
A call for tender went out earlier this year, 24 firms took the tender documents. Six bids were received.
The winning bid came from Les Entreprises Michaudville coming in at more than $4.5 million, contingencies and incidentals extra, 27 percent over the estimated amount.
All contract bids that vary more than 20 percent, over or under the estimated amount, or cost over $10 million are subject to review by the commission to review contracts.
Kirkland city councillor and commission member André Allard explained in an interview with The Suburban that the committee is bound by a confidentiality agreement and can only speak in general terms but it was safe to say that each contract that comes to the commission has to meet strict criteria.
“It is our job to see that the contract process is met and done properly,” he said, “when it comes to price the bidding company must provide us with an explanation as to why its higher or lower than the estimated amount.”
When the commission met in April it concluded that the tender process was respected.
Entreprise Michaudville, early this year, hired three high level officials formerly from Garnier construction, a company recently banned from bidding on any contract for Montreal for a five year period under the Charbonneau commission.
The work to be carried out under the contract will include a reconstruction of a principal water main and a secondary water main and replacement of more than 700 mm of sewer under William Street and construction of a new sewer under Nazereth.
All charges for this project are to be charged to the Agglomeration which consists of the city of Montreal and all demerged cities, the island of Ile Bizard and Dorval Island.