Item - 2023.GG1.8

The General Government Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council receive the report (January 4, 2023) from the General Manager, Toronto Water and  the Acting Chief Procurement Officer, for information.

The purpose of this report is to advise Toronto City Council, pursuant to Chapter 195 of the Toronto Municipal Code (Purchasing By-law, Section 195-7.4), of a non-competitive contract with Aqua Tech Solutions Inc. (Aqua Tech) to procure emergency general contracting and construction services to repair two (2) damaged critical sewer sections (a  section of 375mm sanitary sewer and a 1800x1500mm storm sewer outfall) in the North Park creek crossing for a total value of $3,239,545 net of all applicable taxes and charges ($3,296,561 net of HST recoveries).

The issuance of this non-competitive contract was a matter of extreme urgency. It was necessary to complete the work immediately, without a formal competitive tender process, due to the active spill of raw sanitary sewage into North Park Creek and the risks associated with the imminent failure of the sewers.  The failure of the sewers could have had impacts on public health and safety, the environment, private property, and could have resulted in legislative non-compliance.  Toronto Water was able to quickly facilitate a process whereby four (4) vendors were invited to bid an estimated scope of work, and the lowest bidder, Aqua Tech was selected.

In consultation with the Purchasing and Materials Management Division, this emergency procurement could not be reported to the General Government Committee and Council in the required timeframe. This was as a result of the requirements for Toronto Water to investigate and undertake the critical emergency construction work and to properly reconcile and approve all payments to the contractor/subcontractors – a process that was finalized in April 2022. Reporting back to City Council is required in accordance with Municipal Code Chapter 195, Purchasing, where the potential value of the non-competitive contract exceeds $500,000 as per Article 7, Section 195-7.4(B) of the Purchasing By-law.