Markham's General Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 10, endorsed a contract worth more than half a million dollars to repair piping and ventilation beneath the basement slab at the Cornell Community Centre, after councillors asked whether the city could seek compensation for errors made during construction.

The committee recommended awarding the work to the lowest-priced bidder, Anacond Contracting Inc., for $525,590.40 including HST. With a 10 per cent contingency of $52,559.04, the total comes to $578,149.44.

Budget falls short

The two capital accounts set aside for the job, for mechanical repairs and pool repairs at Cornell, hold a combined $303,370. The remaining $274,779.44 would come from the city's non-development-charge capital contingency account.

Committee members asked staff about possible ways to seek compensation for mistakes made when the centre was built. According to the meeting minutes, staff said the building is about 12 years old and the city has to proceed with the repairs. Staff added that problems with the quality of the original work, settlement of the property, and change orders made to keep costs down, possibly including changes to equipment, may have contributed to the issue.

Cameras in the sewers

The committee also backed a contract for closed-circuit camera inspections of Markham's storm and sanitary sewers. Infrastructure Intelligence Services Inc., the highest-ranked bidder and the second-lowest on price, would get a one-year contract worth $513,389.37 including HST, plus a 10 per cent contingency, for a total of $564,728.31.

That leaves $73,271.69 in the $638,000 project budget, which staff would use for engineering consultants to check the quality of the 2026 inspection data. The contract could be extended for up to three more one-year terms, from 2027 to 2029, at the same unit prices, if council approves those years' budgets and the vendor performs well.

Before the vote, the committee heard from resident Doug Denby, who spoke about the inspection process and the pipe connections on his property.

New loaders for city crews

In a third purchase, the committee recommended buying three compact wheel loaders from Brandt Tractor Ltd. for $470,665.44 including HST. The fleet replacement budget for the purchase was $288,000, so the gap of about $182,665 would be covered by the Life Cycle Replacement and Capital Reserve Fund.

Councillor Keith Irish chaired the meeting. General Committee decisions are recommendations and still need final approval from Markham council.