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Helen Street Footbridge

Updated 3 November 2011

Helen Street Footbridge officially opened on 10 July 2010.

Proposed Helen Street Footbridge – Alternate Design Being Considered

The construction of a footbridge over Capricornia Canal at Helen Street, South Golden Beach has been a long-standing Council project involving much community consultation. Council granted conditional development consent for the footbridge in 2005, and called for tenders for construction earlier this year.

At its Ordinary Meeting held 28 June 2007, Council considered a report regarding the tender assessment for construction of the footbridge. The tender result placed the cost of the project in the range of $900,000 to $1.4 million, which was significantly more than Council’s adopted budget. Council resolved not to accept any tenders.

Council subsequently resolved to redirect the existing funds of approximately $340,000 for the Helen Street Footbridge Project to other projects addressing access and road safety concerns of the North Ocean Shores and South Golden Beach community.

This decision was qualified by a subsequent Council decision where it was resolved that Council receive a report on the amended Helen Street Footbridge design furnished by a local structural engineer as a basis for new construction tender specifications and that the reserved funds be set aside pending the outcome of the evaluation of the alternate design.

In this regard a structural engineering consulting firm has been engaged to design the footbridge, prepare relevant documentation and provide design certification.

The completion of these tasks by the consulting structural engineer will enable a report to be presented to Council and a decision to be made with respect to the Helen Street Footbridge Project.

Helen Street Footbridge

Explanatory Notes

At its Ordinary Meeting held 28 June 2007, Council considered a report regarding the Tender Assessment - Construction of Helen Street Footbridge 2006-00173.

The Local Government Tender Regulations require this matter to be dealt with in Confidence to protect commercial information submitted by the Tenderers.

The outcome of this Tender process resulted in a number of matters being considered by Council that are outside of this confidential requirement.  The report below is an amended copy of this confidential report that Council considered, with a number of points deleted due to their confidential nature.

The copied report below provides details of the issues considered by Council, including:

  • the background to this project;
  • the tender process;
  • the options that were available to Council in making its decision;
  • an explanation of the financial and sustainability consequences with proceeding with the construction of the Helen Street Bridge.

The Resolutions of Council relating to this matter are:

07-382   Resolved:

  1. That pursuant to Section 10A(2)(c) and (d) of the Local Government Act, 1993, Council resolve into Confidential Session to discuss the following report, namely Tender Assessment, Construction of Helen Street Footbridge  2006-00173.
  2. That the reasons for closing the meeting to the public to consider this item be that:
    1. information that would, if disclosed, confer a commercial advantage on a person with whom the council is conducting (or proposes to conduct) business.
    2. commercial information of a confidential nature that would, if disclosed:
      1. prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied it, or
      2. confer a commercial advantage on a competitor of the Council, or
      3. reveal a trade secret.
  3. That on balance it is considered that receipt and discussion of the matter in open Council would be contrary to the public interest, as disclosure of the confidential information could compromise the commercial position of the tenderers, could adversely affect Councils ability to contract with preferred tenderers or could affect Councils ability to attract competitive tenders in the event that fresh tenders are invited.

(Tucker/Kestle)

07-383   Resolved that the meeting be extended past 6.00pm to the completion of this item.

(Kestle/Tucker)

The motion was put to the vote and declared carried.

07-384   Resolved that Council not accept any tenders and not construct the proposed Helen Street Footbridge.

(Kestle/Tucker)

The motion was put to the vote and declared carried.

FORESHADOWED MOTION

07-385   Resolved:

  1. That Council redirects the existing available funds for Helen Street Footbridge project to any alternative project(s) aimed at addressing the access and road safety concerns of the Ocean Shores and South Golden Beach community.
  2. That Council receive a report at the meeting of 30 August 2007 regarding the details of any proposed alternative project(s) to address access and road safety around the Ocean Shores and South Golden Beach community.
  3. That Council makes public its decision regarding acceptance/ rejection of the tender in accordance with Clause 179(b) of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005.

       (Kestle/Tucker)

The motion was put to the vote and declared carried.
Cr Staples voted against the motion.

FORESHADOWED MOTION

07-386   Resolved:

  1. That Council make public that project prices range from $900,000 to $1.4 million.
  2. That the General Manager be authorised to declassify Report No. 13.1., or parts thereof, if appropriate.

(Tucker/Barham)

Resolutions 07-384, 07-385 and 07-386 are based on the seven options considered by Council, which are detailed in the report.

A further report will be presented to Council at its 30 August 2007 meeting to provide details of any proposed alternative project(s).

Please contact Michael King on (02) 6626 7026 if you have any further inquires.