City officials forced to explain $63,800 bill for having contractor on standby.
AIM Environmental Group has found itself in the midst of a row over additional costs associated with a contract at Colborne Street. Delays and extra work at the site led to an additional $220,500 in costs for the city.
This week, a special meeting of city council was informed that contractor AIM Environmental Group had done $157,700 worth of necessary extra work. AIM also presented the city with a bill for almost $63,800 to cover the cost of being on call and waiting for the start-work order.
Engineering general manager Sandra Lawson was asked to explain the bills. “The $157,000 is for the asbestos abatement,” she said, adding that these costs and others were “not anticipated but it’s extras that were legitimate.”
The other bill, she said, had to do with the need to keep a supervisor on site, plus a trailer and power, so AIM could be ready to begin the teardown as soon as word came down from the city.
Coun. Dan McCreary, an opponent of the demolition in the months leading up to the final vote, asked Lawson to be specific about who ordered AIM to remain at the ready.
“Who gave the direction to AIM to remain on the site and be prepared… at a moment’s notice?” he wanted to know.
Lawson replied indirectly, saying that AIM was working by the terms of a tendered contract from March 3 to July 31. “It was the city that asked them not to commence with the demolition.”
McCreary pressed for more specifics. “Which individual from the City of Brantford directed them to remain on site?” he asked. “Most of us believed the contract had been held in abeyance.”
Lawson replied that the AIM team remained on site in part because the asbestos removal was needed. “They were able to do that,” she said. “They just weren’t able to do the demolition.”
McCreary then took issue with what he saw as a high expense for simply waiting to go to work. A member of the city’s legal team replied that the factor of $6,380 a week was made known to the city during the tendering process.
McCreary then asked Lawson again who gave the order to remain on site. “That would be me,” she replied.
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