Ameliasburg washroom project stalled again

Residents of Ameliasburg have been waiting, impatiently, for the washroom project to finally wrap up and it hit another snag on Thursday.

Councillors approved a motion to terminate the contract with Standard Paving Ltd. in regards to the project after months of delays and inactivity.

Project Manager Garrett Osborne told council 80% of the work has been completed but after being reassured earlier this spring the work would be done by June, the project remains unfinished.

The project was awarded to Standard Paving Ltd. in July 2018 and just this spring after months of delays and little work progressing, council got reassurances from Prince Edward County engineering staff the Ameliasburgh washroom project would be wrapped up by June.

The completion date was then moved to July 3 after the June deadline was passed.

Canada Day celebrations, normally held in the park, were cancelled.

Mayor Steve Ferguson says enough is enough and the project needs to get done.

Osborne mentioned staff have reached out to the OPP in regards to equipment removed from the site that has been paid for and they are working through that issue.

Councillors were very concerned about the ability of the contractor to return to the site and remove other items or even do more work, something outside of the municipality’s control until the contract is terminated.

Council set a special meeting date of Tuesday, September 17 to pass a by-law to terminate the contract.

The City of Belleville has filed a lawsuit against the same contractor for alleged deficient work on washroom upgrades in Zwick’s Park.

Osborne told council he felt staff could hire subcontractors to complete the remaining 20% of work on the project but couldn’t give a firm timeline simply because he didn’t know the availability of those subcontractors.

He did give this fall as a rough timeline for completion.

Standard Paving Ltd. also has another contract with the municipality to do work on the Wellington sea wall, but that work can’t continue until water levels decrease sufficiently.