To the victor goes the spoils. A pair of City construction projects at the Flin Flon Community Hall and the Flinty Campground have been tendered to locally based businesses.
Flin Flon city council awarded the projects to two separate businesses. Work at the Flin Flon Community Hall will go to Flin Flon Construction and Flin Flon Flooring, while Paul’s Construction will take care of the Flinty Campground tasks.
According to City documents, the Community Hall reflooring project was scheduled to start August 1, with an expected finishing date of Nov. 31. The project will include work on the second floor entrance on the building’s northeast side and replacing the doors at the entrance, along with adding a rubberized finish on all stair sets inside and levelling the floor and stairs in some locations.
A new play structure and kitchenette will be built at the Flinty Campground site, with the play structure involving excavation of about 1,200 square feet of land, putting up the structure and landscaping the area. The kitchenette will also include excavation, installing a concrete pad, then building a small post-and-beam, shelter-like area with lighting and electrical outlets.
In the recent past, some City projects, including water and sewer work, had been tendered to out-of-town companies with mixed results. Construction at the City pump station at the intersection of Third Avenue and Ross Street went weeks over deadline last fall, with a bumpy, gravel road left unfinished out front until earlier this year.
The City uses a point system during tenders to determine what may be the best fit for any new project.
When asked about the City’s policies on local businesses in projects and whether a local business may receive more consideration than an out-of-town one, Mayor Cal Huntley said factors are weighed differently for each project.
“Depending on the value of the project we’re obliged to tender, we’re not obliged to take the lowest tender, but it’s a tendering process where it’s a see-through process. It wouldn’t necessarily be a local preference,” Huntley said.
“You don’t get points for local preference. It’s basically going on dollars and cents, how you use the taxpayers’ dollars. Local businesses should have a built-in advantage because they’re here… we would prefer to use local obviously, but if there’s a huge discrepancy in dollars, you go with what gives the taxpayers get the best bang for the buck.”
“There’s a scoring system. If you ask 12 questions and they only answer four, then you’re not going to get a lot of points. Somebody who’s actually done their homework and has put in a good bid will,” said councillor Tim Babcock.
