DRAINAGE MASTER PLAN AWARD

DRAINAGE MASTER PLAN AWARD

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Drainage Master Plan project N-098 be awarded to McElhanney in the amount of up to $181,792 net of taxes.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:

Option #2: Council may choose not to award the Optional Work as recommended by staff, or only have the proponent complete a portion of the Optional Work.

Option #3: Council may approve the award of the project to the other proponents listed. However, this is not recommended due to additional budgetary pressures and the fact that the other proponents were not considered to be the leading proponent.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to recommend to Council the award of the Drainage Master Plan project. The budget for this project is $208,000.

BACKGROUND:

The project was competitively bid through an RFP process that closed on April 9, 2025.

The RFP required each proponent to provide the following fee totals:

1. A fee total to conduct all required tasks identified in the RFP;
2. An additional optional fee for the proponent to conduct field pickups to confirm infrastructure in areas that currently have inaccurate or missing drainage data.

Five (5) proposals were submitted for the project, ranging from consultant firms located locally to firms located on mainland BC. Each proposal was evaluated based on the team, past performance, methodology & proposed schedule, proposal quality and fees & resource allocation, for a total possible score of 100. The results are summarized in the Table below:

Staff recommend the award of the project to McElhanney on the basis that they have been evaluated with the highest rating and the lowest price. Moreover, McElhanney:

• Are a local firm in Victoria and have extensive local expertise in engineering and master planning in greater Victoria, including within the Town;
• Are very experienced in infrastructure master planning within the budget range identified, and have received positive reviews from neighbouring municipalities whom have retained McElhanney for drainage master planning;
• Have extensive experience in climate change impact assessments and identifying potential natural asset sites to buffer the impacts of climate change, having done similar work in neighbouring municipalities.

Finally, staff recommend awarding the Optional work to McElhanney, with which McElhanney quoted a price of $26,087 to conduct the field reviews. Doing so will allow the Town’s summer students to complete field reviews for other important infrastructure (sanitary sewer infrastructure in preparation for the Sanitary Sewer Master Plan scheduled for 2026).

ANALYSIS:

Impacts and implications can be summarized as follows:

Community Impact: This project will push Strategic Planning mandates by:

• Preparing for climate change impacts;
• Identifying opportunities to create natural assets that may help protect and enhance the urban forest in response to the climate emergency;
• Ensuring that the master plan aligns with the new OCP and land use plans through change management of Town bylaws related to drainage.

Financial Implication: The recommended award including the optional work is within the allotted budget with 12% contingency to spare. The award of this project will allow for the usage of Provincial Grant funds that was awarded to this project (Provincial Infrastructure Planning Grant: $10,000).

Inter-governmental Relations Impact: The Town and the successful proponent will engage with the stakeholders as identified in the RFP to complete the Drainage Master Plan.

ALIGNMENT:

The recommended option aligns with the Town’s following core guiding documents as follows:

Strategic Plan:

• Priority B, Goal 1: Ensure master plan aligns with managed growth identified in the OCP.
• Priority C, Goal 3: Support community preparation for climate change impacts with respect to sea level rise, storm surge and other extreme weather events.
• Priority D, Goal 1: Confidence in the fiscal health and financial sustainability of the Town.

Official Community Plan: This project will align with the growth and policy findings of the OCP.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION GOAL:

The desired level of public participation for the recommended option is:

[x] Inform [x] Consult [ ] Involve [ ] Collaborate [ ] Empower [ ] N/A

TIME CRITICAL:

The drainage master plan is scheduled for this year, and deadlines must be reached to obtain the provincial grant fund in full.

CONCURRENCE:

REVIEWED BY:

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Project Summary N-098 – Drainage Master Plan Update