Winnipeg’s water and waste committee voted Tuesday to take two more days to award what could end up becoming $1 billion worth of construction work on a sewage treatment megaproject.
The city is about to award a $95-million contract to design and develop a new biosolids processing facility at the North End Water Pollution Control Centre, the largest of Winnipeg’s three sewage treatment plants.
The facility will transform sludge from all three sewage treatment plants into nutient-rich, semi-solid fertilizer. The city must complete a facility that can “accept, store, treat, and stabilize the sludge” by 2030 in order to meet the conditions of its provincial environmental license to treat sewage, said Cynthia Wiebe, water and waste engineering manager, in a report to council’s water and waste committee.
The winner of the design contract may have an inside track to being awarded the remaining $900 million worth of construction on the $1 billion project — one of three components in a package of North End sewage upgrades that will eventually cost the city $3 billion, water and waste committee chair Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) said.
In her report, Wiebe recommended council award the $95 million design contract to Red River Biosolids Partners, a consortium made up of Aecon Water Infrastructure, Oscar Renda Contracting of Canada and MWH Constructors Canada.
This joint venture scored higher than a competing bid by a consortium made up of construction companies Graham Infrastructure and PCL Constructors Canada, Wiebe wrote.
Councillors on the water and waste committee — Mayes (St. Vital), Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre), Vivian Santos (Point Douglas) and Shawn Dobson (St. James) — chose Tuesday to not further consider the award of the initial design contract.
Following delegations from union representatives, some of whom raised concerns about Manitoba workers losing out to labour from outside the province, they voted to hold off on a decision for up to 30 days.
Mayes said the committee won’t need all that time. He said the mayor’s office has approved a Thursday special meeting of the committee.
Council will begin a six-week prorogation at the end of this week.