PAPHR, local contractors don’t see eye-to-eye on new building

The RFP led the construction association to pen a letter to the PAPHR, to express its directors’ and members’ “displeasure.”

“This tender has eliminated all local general contractors, subtrades and suppliers in the Prince Albert region because of the criteria listed in your tender documents,” Joe Yungwirth, vice-president of the construction association, wrote.

He wrote that the “prescriptive nature of the tender not only excluded the possibility of engagement by the local industry, but importantly it also limited the possibility of other innovative and cost-saving solutions to be presented.”

The association argued this will reduce the number of potential bidders, drive up construction pricing and lead to poorer value for project owners and taxpayers.

However, cost is one of the reasons why the PAPHR may opt for a modular building.

“The initial estimates of the cost of modular construction versus costs of from-scratch putting together an apartment building, the modular is cheaper,” said John Piggott, vice-president of operations with the PAPHR.

The PAPHR is looking at using the proceeds from this sale towards the new apartment units.

“We don’t have any money from any other source other than the proceeds from the sale of the old Pineview,” Piggott said. They won’t be able to announce the final sale value until after the sale closes at the end of this month.

He said the problem arose when the PAPHR sold the old Pineview Terrace Lodge late last year. It had eight apartment units along with the lodge building. Some of the units were provided to locum doctors who came to Prince Albert to provide services.

Medical students and residents, as well nursing and technology students also used the apartments.

Right now, it’s considering building the new units adjacent to the Victoria Hospital, recognizing that having the units close by is convenient to locum doctors and students working or training at the hospital.

But it is also in part based on the fact that a modular building could be more quickly assembled within the health region’s timelines.

The PAPHR is hoping to have the apartment units ready by December 2015, Piggott said. The sale agreement to the old Pineview’s new owner contains a provision that allows the PAPHR to continue to use the apartment units there until the end of this December.

While going with a modular construction project adjacent to the hospital is one option, the PAPHR is looking at other alternatives. It is also considering the possibility of buying an existing building elsewhere in the city.

But it’s not just concerns about local competitiveness that spurred the construction association to voice its disappointment. Its members are upset because local construction companies have supported the PAPHR’s work, financially or with in-kind help.

“Our industry is happy to invest in, and build, our community. In so doing, we hope to always have the opportunity to compete for work locally,” Yungwirth wrote in the letter to the PAPHR.

The health region, too, is disappointed – but in the construction association’s view on this point.

“We basically, obviously, like to maintain good relationships with the construction companies within our area because they do have quite a few opportunities on an ongoing basis for work within facilities of the [health] region.

“But again, it’s one of those things, where this is not, it’s not about whether or not somebody likes us, it’s about we have to act in the interests of the health system for what is the best cost and within the timing of the need.”

On Feb. 25, the PAPHR’s board will meet and is expected to come to a decision regarding the housing unit.

One prominent person supporting the construction association’s overall stance against a modular build is Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne.

For him, when there is an opportunity to employ local workers, that opportunity should be taken. But with a modular build, local workers are only participating in a lesser amount of the work – the foundation, landscaping and the paving, Dionne said.

The modules are pre-built somewhere else, he said, and they are just put together here.

“And so, they’re not employing drywallers, they’re not employing the framers, the wood people, the finishing carpenters, the cupboard suppliers, the sink suppliers, so that’s why it expands into plumbing and electrical and it just shows that 80 per cent of the modul[ar] project is built somewhere else.”

Dionne understands the PAPHR’s concerns about costs, but he also questions whether it needs to build a complex with 22 units, as opposed to something smaller. He is concerned about whether the PAPHR is looking at all aspects of the project.

He plans to raise this question at the PAPHR’s Feb. 25 meeting.

Dionne is weighing in because he said he is a strong supporter of, and will continue to support, local business.

“So, when I get calls from numerous, and I do mean numerous calls from contractors, suppliers, builders and developers, I’m going to stand up for them. Because, at the end of the day, in my State of the City Address, as I said, if we build locally, we work locally, our market will grow.”

He said that with an apartment building, the most jobs are created in the community during the construction phase.

“We need jobs. We’re starting to feel a slowdown in our community,” he said, and cited the impending closure of Northern Grocers, which is set to take 23 jobs with it. “It’s going to be part of the slowdown. So that’s why I’m working on it.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames

by Thia James

PAPHR, local contractors don’t see eye-to-eye on new building

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