Cleantech servicing plan OK’d

City councillors plan to hire 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 – such as taxes, reports, utility installation and design costs – and the total bill for the first two phases of servicing is about $8.3 million.

On Monday at City Hall, councillors gave preliminary approval to hire the firm first two phases of street construction and servicing. The plan needs a final vote before council on July 9.

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

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.

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 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.