Grey County council has approved just over $2.8 million in road and servicing work in Durham for the new Rockwood Terrace long-term care project.
On Aug. 31, Grey County council held a joint meeting with West Grey council and then an individual county council meeting to approve the project.
In order to prepare for the $96.7 million upgrade the Rockwood Terrace long-term care home, the county is embarking on joint works with the Municipality of West Grey to upgrade road, stormwater, drainage and water/sewage services in the area around the site of the new build.
The total cost of the work (including HST and a 10 per cent contingency recommended by staff) is $3,611,542.28. The county and West Grey are splitting the costs on a rough 85/15 per cent basis. Grey County is responsible for $2,832,691.32 and West Grey will pay $778,850.96.
Phase 1 of the work will begin in September 2023 once all the agreements are signed and finalized and will carry on until May 2024. Phase two (paving and sidewalk installations) will happen in the summer/fall of 2026 after the new long-term care home is built.
Randy Scherzer, deputy CAO, said getting the early work done will be a significant assist for the general contractor for the Rockwood project.
“It will essentially provide a shovel-ready site,” said Scherzer. “It will be of great benefit to a general contractor as they’re putting forward their bid.”
The tender contract for the construction of the new long-term care home has not been awarded. The county is upgrading Rockwood from a Class C facility to a Class A facility that will include 128 long-term care beds. The new facility will be located due south of the existing building.
Durham based J.T. Excavating was the low bidder on the project at $3,226,435 (this amount does not include HST or the contingency amount). Scherzer told county council that the bid from J.T. Excavating was within range of the cost estimates for the work the county had received from consulting engineers. Two other qualified bids were received, with both exceeding $4 million.
The county will fund the work internally through bridge financing until the entirety of the Rockwood project is completed, at which time it will access financing through Infrastructure Ontario. As the project proceeds and invoices arrive, the county will bill West Grey for its share of the work.
West Grey is involved with the early works project because some of the upgrades being completed in preparation for the Rockwood Terrace project will help service future growth in Durham. Scherzer said the intent of moving forward as a joint project is to avoid having to rip up the new roads that will be built to install services at a later date.
West Grey council is expected to approve the project at its meeting on Sept. 5.
County council unanimously approved moving forward with the county’s portion of the project.
