Servicing Trent’s Cleantech Commons business park would cost $8.3M

85-acre park for green technology startups taking a step forward

City councillors will consider hiring a local company to service the planned new Cleantech Commons at Trent University – the sole firm that bid on the contract.

Drain Bros. Excavating Ltd., of Douro-Dummer Township, submitted the only bid on the first two phases of servicing in the business park. Their price: $4.4 million.

That includes building a stormwater management pond, installation of sewers and watermains and construction of the first two streets in the park.

Add other costs – taxes, reports, utility installation and design costs – and the total bill for the first two phases of servicing is about $8.3 million.

Drain Brothers was likely the only bidder on the job because other firms already have enough work to do, according to a new city staff report.

Because there was only one construction firm interested, states the report, city staff approached Drain Bros to try to negotiate the best price possible.

They whittled it down to $4.4 million (originally, Drain Bros. was proposing to do the job for $5.9 million).

Cleantech Commons will be built on 85 acres of vacant land on campus, east of the DNA buildings.

It’s meant to be a business park for green-technology startups. For Trent it creates on-campus jobs, and for the city it alleviates a severe shortage of industrial land.

Although the university owns the lands, the plan is for the city and Trent University to share the lease revenues paid by tenants until the city’s capital costs are recovered.

The internal streets will be municipal streets, however —

that means they will be maintained over time by the city (using tax money generated from the new buildings).

At a meeting Monday evening, councillors will consider hiring Drain Bros. to do the first two phases of street construction and servicing.

Meanwhile there’s also a third and final phase of construction to consider: in 2020 the city would have to build a third street, extend the watermain around a wetland and lengthen the original two streets.

Add those costs, says the city staff report, and the total price tag for the city to develop the park is $14.2 million.

The general committee meeting takes place at 5:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall on George St.