As construction season begins, the Town of Petrolia had a pleasant surprise. In a time when many construction projects are far more expensive than expected, the contract to rebuild Valentina Street has come in more than $180,000 under budget.

The town recently moved up the reconstruction of the street off Petrolia Line as Goldleaf Construction started building a 50 unit seniors condominium project. The street inside the development – which will link Valentina off Petrolia Line to the other side of the street near the former soccer fields – will be built and paid for by the contractor. But the short piece of Valentina from Petrolia Line to the development will be rebuilt on the town’s dime.

Mike Thompson, director of operations, in a report to council said the reconstruction of Valentina was moved up because of the new development.

Thompson says a total of $475,250 was set aside for the project. But when the tenders were opened, COPE Construction came in as the lowest tender with a bid of $288,427.

The report shows eight different companies, all from southwestern Ontario, bid on the project which is expected to start in May and be completed by mid-June.
The bids ranged from COPE’s low of $288,427 to a high of $491,869 from a Sarnia contractor with three of the bids over $400,000.

The engineer for the project, David Graham with MIG recommended COPE. “We have had experience working with them on similar projects and found the quality of their work to be well on par with the industry standard. We find no valid reason not to award Cope Construction and Contracting Inc. the contract.”

A public meeting will be held for neighbours April 25.