Summary#
Montréal city council awarded Les Entreprises Cogenex inc. a contract for work on avenue Wilson, from rue Sherbrooke to chemin de la Côte-Saint-Antoine, in the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough. The goal, as described by city staff, is to renew water and sewer infrastructure and improve the street.
- The public call for tenders received eight bids. Cogenex was the lowest compliant bidder.
- The contract covers sewer and water pipes, road, lighting and traffic-signal work. It also includes replacing 16 private lead water connections, rebuilding sidewalks with a new layout, planting pits and a BIXI station.
- Council authorized a maximum total of $2,011,374.62, taxes included: $1,673,994.61 for the contract, $169,889.59 for contingencies and $167,490.42 for other impacts, including professional and technical services.
- The City must evaluate Cogenex’s performance. The contract also sets a late penalty of 0.075% of the contract price, excluding taxes and contingencies, per day—at least $1,000 a day. There is no bonus for early completion.
What it means for you#
- People living or travelling on avenue Wilson: The street, sidewalks, pipes, lighting and traffic signals will be rebuilt or replaced. The decision does not set a construction schedule.
- Residents whose private lead water connections are replaced: The financial summary assigns $22,082.10 to the affected residents for this work.
- The contractor: Cogenex must do the contracted work and may owe the City a daily penalty for late completion.
Money#
The maximum authorized spending is $2,011,374.62, taxes included, or $1,836,653.12 net of tax rebates.
- The City’s financial summary assigns $1,156,006.64 to water infrastructure, $795,010.01 to road infrastructure, $38,275.87 to urban planning and mobility, and $22,082.10 to the private lead-connection work.
- City staff say the water-infrastructure share is eligible for a provincial-federal funding program and would leave no cost to taxpayers for that share. The material gives no estimate of the amount of funding received.
What is unclear#
- No publicly available information on when construction will start or finish.
- The decision does not say how much of the contingency or other-impacts budgets will actually be spent.
Case for#
- City staff say inspections found the sewer and water pipes to be in poor structural condition and prioritized them for replacement.
- The winning bid was 14.29% below the City’s estimate. Eight bids were received, and Cogenex’s bid was $11,005.40 below the second-lowest compliant bid.
Case against#
- The authorized maximum is $337,380.01 above the contractor’s bid because it includes contingency and other-impacts budgets; the final amount spent is not known.
- The decision gives no construction schedule, so residents cannot tell from this material how long the work or disruption may last.