Town approves $7 million tender for southeast quadrant infrastructure
A tender for infrastructure work in the town’s southeast quadrant has been approved by Amherstburg town council.
Town council authorized administration to execute an agreement with Rudak Excavating Inc. in the amount of $7,068,601.88 plus HST for work that includes new watermains, sanitary mainline sewers, sanitary forcemains and a sanitary pumping station to support the development.
The Town of Amherstburg received a grant of up to $9,306,990 under the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund (HEWSF) to accommodate up to 1,101 homes in an announcement made by Essex MPP Anthony Leardi in August 2025.
The lands, owned by separate developers, encompass an area near Fryer St., Lowes Side Road, Meloche Road, County Road 20 and just south of Simcoe St.
Councillor Linden Crain asked if the tender would cover the cost of repairing damage to roads such as Lowes Side Road and Fryer St. He cited they are not in great shape to begin with and could get worse due to trucks and heavy equipment driving on them as part of the project.
Administration said the funds are solely for underground infrastructure with roadways being in the town’s long-term budget, as far ahead as 2029 and 2030.
Development engineering co-ordinator Sydnee Botham stated during construction of the southeast quadrant project, the roads will be repaired based on the trench locations selected by an engineer. Botham said in future years, designs will start on the new road reconstruction for Lowes Side Road and Fryer St.
“Fryer St. will be incorporating some bike lanes and some sidewalks to get kids to school,” said Botham. “Once this project is complete, we’ll be able to reconstruct those roads and improve the level of service to people on those roads.”
Botham said as of Monday night’s meeting, they hadn’t spoken to the successful contractor. She said they would soon speak with the company, noting the construction schedule is not impacted if work is started this year or early next year as the deadline, per the grant, to have the work done by 2029.
Crain wanted to know when the first shovels could go into the ground for the actual residential development, with Botham stating plan of subdivisions have to be approved both in town and by the County of Essex.
Eligible costs covered by the grant, which are 73 per cent of total eligible costs are just shy of $6.1 million. Eligible costs covered by the town, about $2.25 million, would be funded through the sanitary sewer reserve and recovered from the developers when sanitary development charges are paid.
Ineligible costs funded by the town are just over $401,232 with those costs, according to Botham’s report, to be funded by the water reserve and recovered from benefitting homeowners through the town’s local improvement bylaw.
Councillor Diane Pouget wanted to ensure the town had mandatory surety bonds on the contracts. CAO Valerie Critchley said “there is 100 per cent bonding” in both cases Pouget raised.
Pouget asked if procurement bylaws are still in existence with Critchley stating it is in effect though revisions are possibly coming.
Councillor Peter Courtney recalled the southeast quadrant issue dating back to his first term on town council to see how infrastructure could happen without it negatively impacting the town. He praised the grant, but wanted to know what safeguards the town has to recoup the $2.25 million.
Deputy CAO Melissa Osborne said the funds associated with the town’s share is funded through development charges (DC’s).
“There is sufficient funding in those reserves to cover these,” said Osborne. “In the case of development charges, you can have an individual DC reserve go into a negative balance. It just is repaid over future DC’s. The original requirement for everyone to pre-pay their DC’s way back when this originally started four years ago when we didn’t have a grant is no longer a priority in order for this to occur. We are no longer looking at $16 million for the town to come up with in DC’s, it’s only a couple of million.”
As DC’s are paid by every development, it will replenish funds, she said.
“We are whole at this point,” Osborne stated.
Town approves $7 million tender for southeast quadrant infrastructure
By Ron Giofu
Comments