By Mark Squibb
Like everything, the cost of high-visibility clothing has also gone up.
Councillor Mark Rice last week explained the City’s Collective Agreement with its outside workers makes provision for work clothing, and the acquisition of clothes for members of the public works department is by a combination of requests for proposals and request for quotes, with some items custom ordered as needed to accommodate unusual or urgent needs.
In August 2021, council awarded a contract for the supply of select high-vis clothing (winter parkas, insulated snow pants, rain suits, and non-insulated coveralls), to the lowest qualified bidder, Campbell’s Ship Supplies at a cost of $23,151, HST included, and renewed the contract for another year in July, 2023.
With the renewal set to expire, staff contacted Campbells to request a two-year extension.
“The vendor indicated that, should the City wish to do so, they would be willing to extend the agreement for an additional year to August 24, 2025; however, due to continuing inflation, their source pricing has increased, and this would result in some minor increases to the pricing to the City,” said Rice. “The unit price increases from the 2023-2024 pricing on all six items is an average of 1.96 percent.”
Staff recommended council approve the contract renewal despite the minor increase, and council obliged, approving the motion without further discussion.
