ordinary meeting of council to be held on tuesday, 18 july 2006

Ordinary Meeting <strong>of</strong> Council - 18 July 2006 12 / 4
Item 12
S04855
19 June 2006
In-house project management fundamentally shifts the risks <strong>to</strong> Council in undertaking the project
within time and budget. However in doing so does allow, like option 1, Council <strong>to</strong> prioritise works
<strong>to</strong> implement the strategically important sections. As part <strong>of</strong> the exploration <strong>of</strong> this option, advice
was sought from LandVision Solutions if such an approach was feasible and how much this would
cost given the design and addendum <strong>to</strong> the works as tendered. Attachment 3 (confidential) details
the viability <strong>of</strong> this option and costing for the stages as identified. However, there still remains a
risk in budgeting if unforseen issues arise in the construction <strong>of</strong> tracks and bridges. To <strong>of</strong>fset this
risk, less critical sections could <strong>be</strong> delayed until alternative funding was found including pursuing
State and Federal Government grants that has already commenced. Attachment 1 provides details
on the scheduling <strong>of</strong> works by priority.
Tenderer feedback
During the tender assessment process, a num<strong>be</strong>r <strong>of</strong> tenderers have provided feedback on the tender
document. They <strong>be</strong>lieve that if it were not for AUS-SPEC #3 and the high standard <strong>to</strong> which it
forces contrac<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>to</strong> comply, then prices would have <strong>be</strong>en much more reasonable. It should <strong>be</strong>
noted however that the standards required are <strong>to</strong> ensure the integrity <strong>of</strong> the fire trail <strong>to</strong> cope with the
envisaged loads <strong>of</strong> a fully loaded fire tanker during emergency situations (25 <strong>to</strong>nnes). In this
respect, such certification and testing standards are reasonable. Where tenderers provided a fee
schedule for certification this was not a significant percentage <strong>of</strong> the tendered price.
The landfill site at Golden Jubilee Oval was also identified as an area that had impact on the
pricing. For this site there was a requirement for the construction <strong>of</strong> gabion baskets <strong>to</strong> support the
upslope area <strong>of</strong> the track. However, where such costs were included in the tender schedules, these
did not seem <strong>to</strong> support such a large variation over and above the budget for the project. What is
unknown <strong>to</strong> Council and the tenderers was the extent <strong>to</strong> which contaminated or other materials
would <strong>be</strong> encountered around the landfill site and in turn impacting on disposal or reuse
opportunities. While some tenderers covered this by way <strong>of</strong> variation, others would seem <strong>to</strong> have
included this in the lump sum accounting for the higher price.
CONSULTATION
The development and identification <strong>of</strong> this project has the support <strong>of</strong> the Ku-ring-gai Bush Fire
Brigade (KBFB), Hornsby Fire Control Centre (Hornsby FCC) and the Department <strong>of</strong> Environment
and Conservation through the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the National Parks North
Region. As part <strong>of</strong> the consultation associated with the Environment Levy, this project was
specifically raised and supported through various consultation forums.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Funding for this project, as identified in the Environmental Levy is $750,000. This included the
design, tendering and construction <strong>of</strong> the fire trail and associated access ways and two bridges.
Tenders submitted for the construction <strong>of</strong> the fire trail ranged in price from $808,600 <strong>to</strong> $2,163,029.
Nine (9) tenders were over $1M and three (3) <strong>be</strong>low. The average tender submission was
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