Hopes are to have another contractor in place soon to finish stalled road construction in Point Edward, the village’s top bureaucrat says.
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“It’s not a signed, done deal at this point,” said chief administrator Jim Burns about negotiations with one of the other bidders on what was a $6-million project to rebuild Lite and St. Clair streets in phases, including water main replacement, between Front Street and Michigan Avenue.
“We’re very, very close, but it’s not a definite yet,” Burns said about resuming construction with another contractor.
Point Edward cut ties with McNally Excavating Ltd. in July, after “numerous failures of the contractor to meet statutory and contractual obligations,” Point Edward Mayor Bev Hand said.
A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development inspector visited the construction site after being notified June 12 of a safety concern and issued three orders to the contractor, a ministry official emailed in June, without providing further details.
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Work resumed June 18and the village and McNally parted ways less than a month later.
“As far as I’m aware, the last time the Ministry of Labor was on site was July 5,” Burns said.
Ministry officials Tuesday were unable to provide further information, given an investigation is ongoing, spokesperson Manuel Alas-Sevillano said in an email.
“We’re focusing on moving forward at this point in time, to do what we can to get the project completed,” Burns said.
How much of the project will finish this year with a new contractor hasn’t been determined, he said. Work started in mid-April with aims to finish by September, including lane reductions, adding bump outs and a multi-purpose path.
“We’re working, talking about what might get done this year, what might not get done,” Burns said. Some fencing and safety improvements were made to the construction site after McNally left in July, Burns said.
Year Aug. 12 statement from the village expressed optimism about work summarizing soon.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience and understand that it’s been a challenge for many people,” Burns said. “We are just working…doing the best we can to try and get the project moving forward again.”
with files from Paul Morden
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