Brockville Ontario - In a narrow vote, city council on Tuesday decided to spend an extra $300,000 to replace failed equipment in the Brockville Railway tunnel, judging it necessary to take a financial hit in order to maintain a key attraction for the tourism season.
 
With eight of council's nine members present, council voted 5-3 in favour of a motion to authorize the purchase of additional tunnel lighting components, at a cost of $300,229, to be covered by reserves.
 
The decision follows a recent call for tenders in which the city's only tunnel contractor to date, Ford Electric, was narrowly outbid by another company.
 
Last week, director of operations Phil Wood briefed council on the extent of the faster-than-expected equipment failure in the railway tunnel.
 
Water infiltration, caused by mineral deposits on the lenses of the tunnel lights, has led to their rapid failure, while water infiltration into the pedestals along the tunnel has also taken out many of the enablers that drive the facility's light show.
 
While this year's capital budget includes $120,000 to replace failed lighting system components in the tunnel, this was based on an assessment by the contractor at the end of last year's tourism season, staff reported.
 
But city officials then discovered things had gotten worse in the tunnel over the winter.
 
The latest staff report notes that the approved $120,000 was for the replacement of 54 failed lighting strips and four failed lighting enablers.
 
That initial budget, based on last fall's assessment, led to a recent call for tenders in which nine companies bid, the report adds.
 
The only two bids that came in under the $120,000 budget were from Ford Electric ($118,282) and the eventual winner, ACF Electric ($118,091).
 
Since then, the additional equipment required has been tallied up at 143 color kinetic lighting fixtures, 10 more lighting enablers, auxiliary cables, and components, the staff report notes.
 
Staff contacted ACF Electric to discuss expanding the scope of the contract to include all the newly-required components, and the result is the $300,000 figure, with an estimated delivery time of nine to 10 weeks.
 
Wood told council Tuesday this would allow the tunnel to be restored to its previous state in time for early July.
 
Mayor Matt Wren said expanding the existing contract is permissible under the city's procurement rules, and doing it this way, rather than issuing a fresh call for tenders, could mean the difference between getting the lights on Canada Day or Labour Day.
 
Another alternative was to continue with the current situation, in which a smaller stretch of lights would remain at white only (no colour light show) with some gaps, while staff further investigated a more permanent fix.
 
While some councillors favoured this, Coun. Katherine Hobbs, who was once Brockville's tourism director, argued a "white light season" would not only not be as good as the complete light show, but would damage the tunnel's long-term ability to draw tourists.
 
If the city advertises an exciting light show inside the tunnel and tourists do not see that, "that kind of a reputation is far worse for us than the $300,000 is, because that will always be with us. Getting word-of-mouth out there that something's bad is permanent," said Hobbs.

As in Woe Train.

Coun. Jane Fullarton agreed.
 
"It's a terrible expense for us to have to go to, but I don't think we should lose the momentum for the city that the tunnel has created," said Fullarton.
 
Coun. Jeff Earle balked at the cost of the new contract, in combination with the existing $120,000 in spending.
 
"At this point, between the original tender and the modified or upgraded version, we're looking at almost a half-million dollars here. It's the same equipment which could suffer the same fate in the same time period," said Earle.
 
Earle questioned why no one did any "homework" over the winter when there was time to look for more waterproof equipment.
 
Earle also warned that backing this expanded contract comes with no guarantee the lights will be delivered on time, raising the prospect that the purchase will be in vain.
 
"I can't be fiscally responsible and hold my hand up for this," he added.
 
Coun. Louise Severson also opposed the purchase, and introduced a motion to delay the $300,000 deal until 14 May 2024, giving staff more time to report on a more permanent fix.
 
With Coun. Nathalie Lavergne not at the meeting, that motion to defer fell to a 4-4 tie, with Earle, Severson, Mike Kalivas, and Cameron Wales supporting it, while the mayor, Hobbs, Fullarton and Coun. Phil Deery voted against the delay.
 
The subsequent vote on the initial motion did not, however, produce the same result in reverse.
 
While Deery, Fullarton, Hobbs and the mayor voted yes, Wales also joined their ranks, leaving Earle, Kalivas, and Severson to vote against.
 
The motion also directs staff "to bring reports to the general committee detailing remedial, short turn-around solutions to improve the longevity problems of lighting system equipment and further comprehensive long-term solutions intended to resolve chronic lighting system problems."
 
Ronald Zajac.