City takes the expensive route

City of Iqaluit contracts don’t always go to the lowest bidder.

In the case of Baffin Building Systems, the company missed out on a contract to build a walking trail beside the stream that runs from the bridge accessing Astro Hill down to Queen Elizabeth Way near White Row, despite submitting a bid lower than their competitors.

That’s because broken excavating equipment has caused BBS to fall behind schedule for existing work projects with the city. The company was hired to dredge ditches along the roads that were chip-sealed earlier this summer. BBS never finished that work, said CAO Ian Fremantle, and it needed to be finished with the city’s own equipment.

The contract instead went to Nunavut Excavating, at the cost of $55,718. That’s $1,682 more than the quote submitted by BBS, after NNI bid adjustments are factored in.