WDC tries again in roading contract process

The Waitaki District Council is running a new procurement process for its roading maintenance contract, after all tenders in the initial process were declined due to budget constraints.

The council announced this week that since reviewing the contract inclusions, and adding additional funding through the annual plan, it is now running a new procurement process.

The first stage is complete, and three contractors have registered their interest in the contract.

All three have now been invited to tender — the second stage in the process — and the council is scheduled to consider the award of the tender next month.

Acting assets group manager Paul Hope said the council hoped to receive bids from all three contractors through the tender process "to ensure the community gets the best possible value for money".

The roading maintenance contract was a "significant" cost for the council, worth about $5.2 million a year.

"The importance of the contract on the community cannot be overstated, as the successful delivery of maintenance services on council’s roads and footpaths affects us all," Mr Hope said.

The council would ensure a robust assessment occurred, and the tender evaluation team would include representatives from the council, external agencies and an independent, he said.

Assets operations manager Joshua Rendell said the assessment of tenders would include "price and quality components that assess the capability of contractors in areas relevant to delivery of the contract".

SouthRoads has been the council’s roading maintenance contractor since 2012.

rebecca.ryan@odt.co.nz