|
10. PUBLIC-PRIVATE
PARTNERSHIP (P3) FOR NEW INDOOR SPORTS FIELD DOME AT BEN FRANKLIN
PARK-Selection of Preferred Partner
|
That Council:
1.
Direct that an
external Fairness Commissioner be retained by the City to audit the evaluations
conducted by City staff on all the proposals received for the (P3) New Indoor
Sports Field Dome at Ben Franklin Park and to advise the City by September
2006, whether it concurs with the recommendation of the preferred partner or,
alternatively, if it does not agree with the recommendation; and
2. Direct that a
public meeting on the recommended proposal be held in the community before the
proposal is submitted to Council.
Que le Conseil :
1.
demande qu'un commissaire à l'équité
externe soit retenu par la Ville afin de vérifier les évaluations faites par le
personnel municipal de toutes les propositions (3P) reçues à l'égard du nouveau
dôme de terrain de sport intérieur au parc Ben-Franklin et d'informer la Ville
d'ici septembre 2006 s'il souscrit ou non à la recommandation du choix de
partenaire à préférer;
2. demande que soit tenue dans
la communauté une réunion publique sur la proposition recommandée avant que
celle-ci lui soit présentée.
DOCUMENTATION
1.
Community
and Protective Services, Deputy City Manager’s report
dated 04 July 2006 (ACS2006-CPS-PAR-0009).
2.
Extract
of Draft Minute, 04 July 2006.
Report
to/Rapport au:
Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee
Comité des services organisationnels
et du développement économique
and Council / et au Conseil
July 4 2006 / le 4 juillet 2006
Submitted by/Soumis par: Steve Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager/Directeur
municipal adjoint,
Community and Protective Services/Services communautaires et de
protection
Contact
Person/Personne ressource : Aaron Burry, Director/Directeur
Parks and Recreation/Parcs et Loisir
(613) 580-2424 x23666, Aaron.Burry@ottawa.ca
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Corporate Services and
Economic Development Committee recommend Council:
1. Authorize staff to enter into negotiations
with Thunderbird Management Services Inc. (TMSI) for the construction,
operation and maintenance of an indoor Dome and outdoor sports fields at Ben
Franklin Park;
2. Direct staff to report to Council on the
outcome of the negotiations in September 2006.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU
RAPPORT
Que le Comité des services organisationnels et
du développement économique recommande au conseil municipal:
1.
d'autoriser le personnel à
entreprendre les négociations avec la société Thunderbird Management Services
Inc. (TMSI) en ce qui concerne la construction, l'exploitation et l'entretien
d'un Dôme de terrain sport intérieur et terrains éxterieur au parc Ben
Franklin;
2.
demande au personnel de fournir au
Conseil municipal un compte rendu portant sur les résultats des négociations en
septembre 2006.
BACKGROUND
The rapidly increasing popularity of a number of field sports such as soccer and ultimate frisbee, as well as the increase in population over the past few years have created significant pressures on additional outdoor playing fields in Ottawa. Equally important is the need for domed/indoor playing facilities to allow for year round winter access. As there was interest shown by the private sector and sports leagues to partner with the City to advance the construction of these types of facilities, Council approved that this project proceed as a public-private partnership.
On January 19th and February 8th, 2006 respectively, Health Recreation and Social Services and City Council approved the issuance of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the provision of an indoor sports field structure at Ben Franklin Park (ACS2006-CPS-PAR-0001). The RFP set out the framework (Appendix A of aforementioned report) for the proposal that would respect the previously prepared master plan for the park (2000) and meet the needs of City residents.
DISCUSSION
The
RFP ws issued 31 March 2006 on MERX by the Supply Management Division and
closed on Monday, May 15, 2006.
Proposal submissions were received from TMSI Sports Management Inc., of
Ottawa, and West Ottawa Sports Association Inc., of Ottawa. An evaluation team was created from
represenatives from the Parks and Recreation, Real Property and Asset
Management, and Financial Services Branches.
The evaluation team, facilitated by Supply Management Division,
evaluated each submission in accordance with the stated project objectives and
Council approved framework, based solely on the written content and the
evaluation criteria stipulated in the RFP document.
It
was the consensus of the evaluation team that the proposal submitted by TMSI
Sports Management Inc. represents "best value" to the City having
achieved the highest score of the 100 points available.
Negotiations are expected to be completed by the end of the summer, allowing for a report back to Committee and Council in September 2006, for final approval. It should be noted that successful negotiations with the preferred partner will be dependent on the negotiating team's ability to reach an agreement that falls within the project's budget and ability to pay, while meeting our partner's requirements and business plan.
CONSULTATION
The ward Councillor held a community information meeting prior to the issuance of the RFP, whereby interested proponents were invited and made aware of community concerns that would need to be mitigated and resolved such as access points and traffic issues. Once staff report back to Council for final approval (September 2006), and as part of the implementation of the project, two public meetings are planned in late Fall to be hosted jointly by the proponent and the City. The intent is to present the project to the local and sports communities, identify any outstanding issues/concerns, and report back to the communities in the second consultation with the resolutions.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no financial implications with the approval of the recommendations contained in this report.
DISPOSITION
Supply Management Branch and Parks and Recreation will implement the recommendations as directed by Council.
PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (P3) FOR NEW INDOOR
SPORTS FIELD DOME AT BEN FRANKLIN PARK-Selection of Preferred Partner
Partenariat Public-Privé Pour Un Dôme de
Terrain de Sport Intérieur au Parc Ben Franklin -Choix de partenaire préférer
ACS2006-CPS-PAR-0009
Glen Ford, Manager, Supply Management
Division, provided a brief overview of the staff report. Following the staff presentation, the
Committee heard from the public delegations.
Lawrence McMullen, Ottawa Falcons advised he was the Secretary of the West
Ottawa Sports Association (WOSA), a non-profit organization formed
approximately 18 months earlier with a focus on looking at development sites
for a community based sports facility. WOSA represents seven different sporting
organizations with over 15,000 members.
As well, WOSA brought in private sector partners they felt had the
expertise and history to work with them to develop the site. These private sector partners were McDonald
Brothers Construction, EMA Architects, Core Finance International Limited,
Recreational Excellence Eastern Ontario and the Local Heroes Restaurant
Chain.
Mr. McMullen went on to say the proposal cost
them $30,000 to develop to this stage.
Unfortunately the results of the RFP have left them disappointed,
frustrated and very confused. He said
they did not feel they were treated fairly in that their proposal was not given
due consideration because of the tight time frame that staff were placed under. Although they were advised they met all of
the mandatory components of the bid, they were not asked to elaborate on or
clarify any of the items in their proposal.
As an example, Mr. McMullen noted one of the things they wanted to
elaborate on was the fact they were looking to develop additional funds through
corporate sponsorships and private donations.
He stated WOSA was asking that the Committee recommend the proposals be
referred to an independent consultant for further analysis and assessment.
In response to questions from Mayor
Chiarelli, Mr. McMullen advised although the group was only formed 18 months
earlier, the member organizations of WOSA have had conversations over the years
about the lack of sports facility in the immediate area. He said they were aware there was an RFP
coming out on the Ben Franklin site but they had not expected it would not come
out this year, as it was an election year.
He noted they were advised in February of this year that the RFP was
being tabled, which caused them to work much faster to bring together the resources
of the group in order to put together the RFP and then to line up the private
sector partners and the financing.
Mayor Chiarelli then asked the delegation to
clarify what they were asking for at this time. Mr. McMullan responded they were asking that their proposal be
fully considered and they be allowed to further discuss their community vision
for this particular site. He emphasized
they were a non-profit organization with significant community backing and
their vision for this facility was not allowed to come to the fore in this
process.
Mayor Chiarelli asked if the delegation would
be in agreement with the Committee approving the retention of a Fairness
Commissioner to conduct an audit to determine whether or not WOSA did in fact
receive fair treatment in the process review and then to live by that
outcome. Mr. McMullan felt this would
be an appropriate measure. He said they
understood they were a new group with not much history as far as this City is
concerned, whereas the winning bidder has been operating other City
facilities. However, they felt their
bid was very comprehensive and involved a long-term (i.e. 25 years) community
vision, working with community associations and other sporting associations in
the area that would benefit not only west Ottawa but also the entire City.
Councillor G. Hunter asked the delegation if
he felt any frustration with not knowing what the elements of the winning bid
were. Mr. McMullen agreed this represented a considerable amount of their
frustration, as they did not know what the other bidder had tabled in order to
compare apples to apples.
In response to further questions from
Councillor Hunter, Mr. McMullen indicated they had expected that an interview
would be part of the evaluation proposal in order that they could elaborate on
their bid.
Councillor Hunter asked the delegation how
they learned they were not the recommended bidder. Mr. McMullan stated they were not told officially by City staff,
rather they learned through the City web site that the recommended bidder was
Thunderbird Management Services Inc.
Councillor Hunter noted he had subsequently learned of the outcome from
Mr. McMullan.
Mayor Chiarelli asked the City Manager to
comment. Mr. Kirkpatrick, prefaced his
remarks by stating they were in no way an indication of non-confidence in the
staff involved in this but he felt it would have been a good idea to have a
Fairness Commissioner involved in the process from the beginning. He noted although the RFP framework was
presented to Committee and Council for approval, staff at that time, should
have recommended the involvement of a Fairness Commissioner. He said he would recommend the Committee
consider assigning a Fairness Commissioner to conduct a fairness audit of the
two proposals and for staff to report back for Committee’s consideration.
Nick Roberts, General Manager, Ultimate
Frisby, advised his
organization was the largest ultimate league in the world, with players from
across the region. He provided a brief
history of his interest in the Ben Franklin site, noting he had been involved
in the process of the design and development of the first phase. He also noted he had approached
representatives of the Thunderbird Sports group early in 2002, about creating
an indoor facility for ultimate on the subject site but nothing came of
it. Then two years ago, his league
became a member of WOSA and they have been working to find a home for their
sports organizations.
With respect to the process for this P3, Mr.
Roberts noted although he empathized with staff having to carry this out within
a very short time frame, he felt it was odd there was not a fairness
commissioner assigned to it at the outset.
Further, the lack of any communication with staff (i.e. there were no
requests for follow up information, no interview, etc.) was viewed as odd by
WOSA. Mr. Roberts felt at issue was
whether the P3s the City of Ottawa enters into, are designed to include “not
for profit” organizations and whether they are taken seriously. He pointed out that WOSA had retained the
best people they could find (i.e. operators, builders, managers, etc.) and had
spent $30,000 on their proposal, as a sign of their seriousness. Further, he noted his league had proven
their validity in building their own fields on Manotick Station Road, without
any public money. He urged the
Committee to support the motion for a Fairness Commissioner.
Kevin Goldt, Vice President, Lynwood
Centennials Soccer Club
advised his club was an adult-only soccer club based in Bell South Nepean. He noted three years earlier, they decided
to get serious about finding a permanent home for their club and with the
opportunity of the P3 at Ben Franklin, they joined with WOSA to pursue this. Mr. Goldt noted that City staff had an extremely
aggressive timeline to follow but he believed a fairness commissioner was
definitely necessary.
Mr. Goldt went on to say that when WOSA first
started with this process, they went to the Trend Arlington and Manordale
Community Associations and shared with them their vision. He said from these discussions, the
Community Associations fully understood what WOSA wanted to do and gave them
their support. As well, the Club membership
fully supported this initiative financially and they committed to it for 25
years.
Rob Hindle, President, Nepean City Soccer
Club advised this Club was
formed 20 years ago as the spin-off youth wing of the Falcons Soccer Club and
the Lynwood Centennials Soccer Club. He
noted Nepean City services youth soccer players (i.e. 4 to 18 years old) in the
Trend Arlington and Manordale communities, with over 1,500 players this
year. He noted they had been actively
developing fields within this community for the last three years with both the
Ottawa Carleton District School Board and the City of Ottawa to try and service
the growing demand for soccer fields within this community. He spoke of the importance of soccer for
youth in terms of keeping them busy and healthy.
Mr. Hindle went on to say that earlier in the
year, they spoke to the Trend Arlington and Manordale Community Associations,
and advised that these proposals were moving forward. He noted they were surprised and also had concerns with respect
to the impact this development would have on their communities in terms of
traffic, use of their communities, etc.
In this regard, Mr. Hindle urged the Committee to ensure that the local
communities and groups are considered and are part of this very important
proposal.
Bob Rathwell, speaking on behalf of Carl Gray
of the Ottawa –Carleton Footsall League Mr. Rathwell advised footsall is
the internationally recognized indoor soccer game. The Ottawa Carleton Footsall League has existed since 1988,
primarily in the Barrhaven/Bells Corners area, and they too would like a permanent
home for their organization. He pointed
out the original study done by the City of Nepean recommended there be
gymnasium facilities for sports such as volleyball, basketball and footsall. The Ottawa Carleton Footsall League sees
this as an opportunity to be among the 15,000 participants in the new facility
at Greenbank and Huntclub. He noted the
four area councillors were present at the meeting (i.e. Councillors Cullen,
Chiarelli, Hunter and Harder) and pointed out each one of these Councillors has
a stake in the community aspect of this facility. Mr. Rathwell stated he was proud to be a part WOSA and indicated
he too would like to see a fairness audit undertaken.
Having heard from all delegations, the matter
returned to Committee for questions of staff and debate.
In response to questions from Councillor
Cullen, Aaron Burry, Director, Parks and Recreation advised the RFP set out the
terms and conditions on how the proposals would be evaluated and certainly, it
looked for the best value for the City.
Councillor Cullen questioned whether the
elements that a community organization would bring forward, would be considered
in this type of P3 process (e.g. local hockey associations often look after the
canteens in an area and the proceeds would go back into the development of the
hockey league). Mr. Burry replied this
aspect was not included in the RFP terms that Council approved.
Mayor Chiarelli advised that Councillor
Chiarelli had put forward the following motion:
That the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee recommend that Council direct that an external Fairness
Commissioner be retained by the City to audit the evaluations conducted by City
staff on all the proposals received for the (P3) New Indoor Sports Field Dome
at Ben Franklin Park and to advise the City by September 2006, whether it
concurs with the recommendation of the preferred partner or, alternatively, if
it does not agree with the recommendation.
Councillor Bloess stated it was his
recollection that in other P3s there was always a Fairness Commissioner
involved. He asked if this was the only
one not to have a Fairness Commissioner.
Mr. Ford responded that although it is quite common to have a Fairness
Commissioner as part of a P3 process, others have proceeded without a Fairness
Commissioner. He said staff viewed this
P3 to be more straight forward than some of the more complex P3s and the
decision was made to not have a Fairness Commissioner.
Councillor Bloess asked if there would be an
opportunity to try to accommodate the community’s vision for this site in the
report on the negotiations with the preferred proponent, that would come back
to Committee in September. Mr. Burry
advised this would not be possible at this point. He explained the RFP described the terms of reference. Further, the issues raised by the community
at the meeting hosted by Councillor Hunter were passed on to the
proponents. The proponents knew if
there were things that were “non-starters” with the community, those would not
be included in their proposals back to the City.
Councillor Hunter expressed his support for
the retention of the Fairness Commissioner, even though it represents extra
expense. However, he said his major
concern was the fact that since the information session he hosted in March with
the community (which was well attended by the prospective bidders, residents of
the community and the community associations), neither he nor the community had
received any information from staff as to how things were proceeding. Even at this point, there was no information
about the bid of the preferred proponent.
He said he was heartened by the words of Mr. Burry but noted the
residents of his community need to know their concerns have been
addressed. Therefore, he was asking
that the Committee direct that at least one of the two public meetings planned
for the fall (to be hosted jointly by the proponent and the City), be held
before Council gives its approval to the project. He said this was of tremendous importance to members of his
community to allow them to have a say in the process.
The Councillor also stated that for future
P3s, sufficient time should be allowed for interviews with proponents to
clarify aspects of their proposals. He
felt it was an oversight that this was not done in this instance.
Councillor Jellett indicated he would be
moving the following motion on behalf of Councillor Hunter.
That the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee recommend that Council direct that a public meeting on the
recommended proposal be held in the community before the proposal is submitted
to Council.
Councillor Cullen indicated he would support
the two motions before the Committee. However, he felt he had to point out that
this project illustrated some of the flaws of the P3 process. He noted the City has the ability to
directly create facilities such as this and can do so at a great cost advantage
to the taxpayers because the City does not have to build a rate of return for
someone else’s profit, into the cost of the project. He opined that P3s are not community friendly; rather, they are
private sector opportunities to make money and the City ends up subsidizing
for-profit ventures by putting up the capital to make these things work. He felt this was wrong.
With respect to the motion for a Fairness
Commissioner, the Councillor cautioned the community to “be careful what you
wish for”. He explained a Fairness
Commissioner will look at the terms of reference of the RFP and, if staff have
done their job (and he had no reason to believe they had not), it will not
change the outcome. The Councillor
stated the proponent was obviously expecting the City to share their values
about community participation in community facilities. He emphasized that is not what a P3 is all
about.
Councillor Cullen sought confirmation that in
approving the motion regarding the Fairness Commissioner, the recommendations
in the report would be deferred pending the outcome of the audit and the public
meeting. Mayor Chiarelli confirmed this
would be absolutely implied.
The Committee then considered the motions put
forward.
Moved by Councillor R. Chiarelli
That the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee recommend that Council direct that an external Fairness
Commissioner be retained by the City to audit the evaluations conducted by City
staff on all the proposals received for the (P3) New Indoor Sports Field Dome
at Ben Franklin Park and to advise the City by September 2006, whether it
concurs with the recommendation of the preferred partner or, alternatively, if
it does not agree with the recommendation.
CARRIED
Moved by Councillor R. Jellett
That the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee recommend that Council direct that a public meeting on
the recommended proposal be held in the community before the proposal is
submitted to Council.
CARRIED