City Flops On Sprung Structure Respect: BENN
Respect. What we want. What we deserve.
It appears that the city has finally recognized that it failed to follow many of its policies when it dropped the proposed Welcoming Centre on to city leased land near the Nepean Sportsplex. To cover a small portion of its posterior, the city has decided to hold a competitive bid process for the construction of the base pad and integrated infrastructure. Minor detail: the bids are due within two weeks of the announcement.
According to Kitchissippi Councillor and planning committee chairman Jeff Leiper: “This isn’t sole-sourcing. It is a very short procurement. But again, when we’re addressing emergencies, the city needs to be nimble.” Leiper went on to say that companies that are familiar with sprung structures should be able to write up a proposal within the two-week window, which he called “not an insignificant amount of time.”
For those who have any meaningful experience in responding to competitive bids, this is a statement that is devoid of understanding of how much time, effort and resources it takes to submit a bid. It implies that the companies wishing to bid have staff just sitting around looking for something to do. That these experienced professionals can just put down whatever they are doing at the moment, things like preparing bids for projects that they have a fighting chance of winning. In contrast to what Leiper and staff have told themselves, there is little appetite to respond to aid and abet the ill-considered efforts of a city desperate to recover a shred of credibility on a file that has been mismanaged from inception to today.
In response to Leiper’s musings, John DeVries, president of the Ottawa Construction Association said: “People who are looking at it are feeling, to be blunt, the fix is in.” He was being more than fair in that assessment.
While the situation regarding the short-term housing requirements of asylum seekers and refugees is a problem, it is not an emergency.
Emergencies require immediate action. Immediate as in this very minute, because every minute matters. A house on fire is an emergency, if not to save the house, then to prevent it from spreading. A person bleeding profusely is an emergency. To save their life. In contrast, the asylum seekers and refugees are not in an emergency setting. They are not sleeping outside in frigid winter conditions. They are being housed in facilities that were not designed for that purpose. The regular users of these facilities are merely being inconvenienced. They are not the victims of an emergency. The solution being presented is not one of immediacy. The welcoming centre may or may not be ready for use in about a year. A year is not immediate.
The upshot of the matter is that staff and council are demonstrating a remarkable lack of respect for everyone. From referring to those who are against the behind-closed-door site-selection process as xenophobes, or using far less polite terminology. For dismissing out-of-hand those who point out that form of structure selected is far from welcoming. For selecting a solution where there is only one known supplier. To expecting companies to respond to a “the-fix-is-in” competitive process. To the people of Ottawa for continuing to demonstrate what a farce the city’s due processes are.
It is time for the leaders on council stand up and apologize. Apologize for failing to their jobs. Apologize for failing to provide sufficient oversight on a hundred plus million dollar program. Apologize for enabling staff to circumvent their own policies. Apologize for expecting companies to participate in this charade of good governance. And finally, to promise to do their jobs. To provide open, transparent and accountable government. Is there anyone on council who is prepared to demonstrate this kind of leadership?
Ron Benn, a finance executive, has been a member of the Centrepointe Community Association for the better part of three decades.
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Omg, so they don’t have strict specifications and are throwing out basically a proposal which has general objectives? The thing with very good specifications is that they filter out the fly-by-night companies providing less than quality materials. This is such a huge risk that the city is taking on. Will they get Montreal Big O quality concrete and materiels? And many companies make their millions poking holes into the specifications. Did the city mention there is no issues with hazardous materials in the ground? Well guess what, the shady contractor will find it and charge millions to remove it. I bet they will also find flecks of asbestos, perhaps PCBs? They could even be planting it now as we speak. So they charge the lowest price, but gouge the city in what we in the contract world call “arisings” or additional work. Buckle up, this is not going to be cheap or good. Remember the old project management saying: Cheap, Quick and Good. You can only have 2
C,
As well as charging millions more to do the “extra” work, this will also lengthen the time-line which the City is claiming can’t be done. Far better to call a pause now and know what they’re getting into and have some control over the whole thing than barrel on and run into unanticipated costs and delays along the way. There is no real urgency at the moment – the future occupants of the Sprung shelters are in out of the cold now. The City could well wait 3 to 6 months to get it right and save the extra costs in the future.
If they need a review of how NOT to do it, they just have to look at the Trillium Line delays and the lawsuits that are now emerging. We do know, though, that the City doesn’t learn from past mistakes and continues doing the same stupid things over and over. Contractors must rub their hands with glee when they see the City coming! Especially with those contracts that see the City cover any cost overruns!
The City can barrel ahead and pay the extra costs down the road with the accompanying delays or they can call a halt to the process while they get it right. Seems like a simple choice but then I’m not the City of Ottawa.
Voter, I recall a former City Auditor General pointing out that road repairs were being done with product that did not meet the specifications. The response from staff and council could best be described as ‘meh’. No consequences to the company that used below spec asphalt. No consequences to staff who failed to check whether the supplier was meeting spec.
So, no, the city is not capable of learning from the past because neither staff nor the people tasked with overseeing staff are prepared to stray from the ‘tried, tested and failed’ procedures of the past.