The Town of Collingwood spent $1,142,550 on non-standard and emergency purchases in 2024, less than half of the $2.7 million they spent on such purchases in 2023.
“The purchasing division is dedicated to supporting accountability and transparency in our purchasing projects, while always achieving great value for taxpayer money,” said Michael Trueman, the town’s procurement manager, in his presentation to councillors of the report at their Feb. 24 meeting.
There was one instance last year of emergency procurement, when the wastewater department’s barscreen unit (a mechanical filter used to remove large objects) failed in the fall of 2024. Emergency repairs were required to bring the unit to working order, and cost $46,695.
There were 17 staff-approved non-standard purchases last year, totaling $1,095,855.
Non-standard procurement and emergency purchases valued equal to or greater than $25,000 are reported to the public annually by the town. These types of procurement require a specific process, but are non-competitive due to reasons such as a lack of competition, or a requirement in an emergency situation.
Seven of the items on last year’s non-standard list were related to water/wastewater. The town paid $50,000 to Janine DeBoer for water/wastewater compliance services as the town does not currently have an employee to do that work.
Another $34,310 was paid to Universal Integrated Solutions (UIS) for programming and integration support for the wastewater treatment plant.
Collingwood paid $348,120 to WAMCO Municipal Products for new and replacement water meters and $59,100 to ProSpec Technologies Inc. to rehabilitate a New Tecumseth pump to increase treated water capacity. The town spent $28,375 for an auger from WSG & Solutions to remove grit from water pipes.
The town paid bigPPlanning $40,000 to gather planning expertise for the Terminals Point project. Collingwood Fire purchased an electronic cutter/spreader (often used for extraction from a crashed vehicle) for $64,980 and paid the City of Barrie $85,790 last year for use of their emergency dispatch service.
They paid $42,195 to Village Media (owner of CollingwoodToday) for digital advertising.
The town paid $42,000 to Forge Leisure LTD for an automated cover for the pool in the Centennial Aquatic Centre.
The town paid $59,675 to UpandUp Studios Inc. for website hosting and upgrades this year and acquired some newly purchased parking metres from the Town of Midland for $30,000.
“They had been used for less than one year,” said Clerk Sara Almas in her remarks. “We received them at a 70 per cent cost savings from what we had originally budgeted.”
The town paid Hawkeye Bird and Animal Control $32,860 for the humane removal of bird nests on the Terminals building.
A standard procurement for a municipality is a competitive process for goods and services, where multiple bidders compete through a proposal process. The intent of the process is to attract fair, impartial and competitive bids. These types of processes are used when the town requires expertise or services outside of the services town staff can provide.
During council discussion, Coun. Deb Doherty asked if efforts are made to procure from Canadian companies and brands, referencing a motion passed by council earlier this month.
“Is this a criteria that can be added to our valuation of tenders and non-standard purchases?” she asked.
Trueman said staff regularly consider the location of a business when procuring, as it can make a difference when it comes to service response time.
“We’ve used that in the past in situations when it’s been defensible,” he explained. “With a greater focus in 2025 on where we’re buying from, we’re trying to apply this process more conscientiously. We need to consider many trade agreements with several other governments and we need to focus on fairness and value for taxpayer money.”
To read the full report including details on all the non-standard and emergency purchases the town made in 2024, click here.