Hi Jack

We have received your request.

I have forwarded this on. You will get a response in due course.

Regards, Trena

| TRENA HOKIANGA | Business Support Officer |
| Manawatu District Council | Private Bag 10001 | Feilding 4743 |
| P: 06 323 0000 | F: 06 323 0822 | www.mdc.govt.nz |

"Our people delivering great service to our community."

-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Whitehead [mailto:[FOI #2655 email]]
Sent: Friday, 24 April 2015 11:49 a.m.
To: MDC Public Enquiries
Subject: Official Information Act request - Contingencies attached to Himatangi Beach sewerage scheme pricing 2007-2010.

Dear Manawatu District Council,

I wish to make a request concerning the prices and price-range provided to the Council by Blackley's Contracting and Good Earth Matters, in the period 2007-2010, for the design and construction of the Himatangi Beach community sewerage scheme. My objective is to shine a little more light on why these prices were so much lower than the final cost.

My request is: could you please provide the documentation pertinent to Council’s understanding, in the period 2007-2010, of the contingencies attached to these prices?

Yours faithfully,

Jack Whitehead

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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Dear Mr Whitehead

 

I have received your Official Information Act request relating to
contingencies attached to the Himatangi Beach sewerage scheme pricing
2007-2010.

 

I note that the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act
(1987) – LGOIMA is the relevant legislation and have provided the answer
below on that basis.  

 

Your specific request is as follows:

 

Could Manawatu District Council provide the documentation pertinent to
Council’s understanding, in the period 2007-2010, of the contingencies
attached to these prices?

 

Response:

 

There were no specific contingencies included in any of the prices
submitted by Blackley Construction Limited in 2007. The schedule of rates
provided does reference two specific items that could potentially be
considered contingency amounts in an engineering sense. These were as
follows:

 

               Item 21.8 misc ducting                   $5,000.00

               Item 21.1 misc pipe work              $27,160.00

 

I note that both of these dollar figures are exclusive of GST and not
specifically referenced as contingency amounts.

 

I trust this answers your question as stated in your Official Information
Act request.

 

Regards

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

l HAMISH WAUGH l General Manager - Infrastructure l
l Manawatu District Council l  Private Bag 10001 l  Feilding 4743 l
l P: 06 323 0000 l F: 06 323 0822 l [1]www.mdc.govt.nz l

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Our people delivering great service to our community."

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Jack Whitehead

> [[2]mailto:[FOI #2655 email]]

> Sent: Friday, 24 April 2015 11:49 a.m.

> To: MDC Public Enquiries

> Subject: Official Information Act request - Contingencies attached to
Himatangi Beach sewerage scheme pricing 2007-2010.

>

> Dear Manawatu District Council,

>

> I wish to make a request concerning the prices and price-range provided
to the Council by Blackley's Contracting and Good Earth Matters, in the
period 2007-2010, for the design and construction of the Himatangi Beach
community sewerage scheme.  My objective is to shine a little more light
on why these prices were so much lower than the final cost.

>

> My request is:  could you please provide the documentation pertinent to
Council’s understanding, in the period 2007-2010, of the contingencies
attached to these prices?

>

> Yours faithfully,

>

> Jack Whitehead

>

> -------------------------------------------------------------------

>

> This is an OIA request done via the FYI website.

>

> Please do not send progress updates as PDF files.

>

> Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published
on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

> [3]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

>

> If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA page.

>

>

> -------------------------------------------------------------------

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If you have received this message in error please notify the sender
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This email has been scrubbed for your protection by Sophos PureMessage and
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References

Visible links
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2. mailto:[FOI #2655 email]
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hide quoted sections

We have received your email.

I have forwarded this to the relevant areas. You will get a response in due course.

Regards, Trena

| TRENA HOKIANGA | Business Support Officer |
| Manawatu District Council | Private Bag 10001 | Feilding 4743 |
| P: 06 323 0000 | F: 06 323 0822 | www.mdc.govt.nz |

"Our people delivering great service to our community."

-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Whitehead [mailto:[FOI #2655 email]]
Sent: Wednesday, 20 May 2015 4:17 p.m.
To: MDC Public Enquiries
Subject: Re: Official Information Act request - Contingencies attached to Himatangi Beach sewerage scheme pricing 2007-2010.

Dear Manawatu District Council,

Thank you for the information you have given.

I take it that the documentation in which Blakelys detailed the price for the scheme contains no significant mention of contingencies. This is of course to be expected given that it was a fixed price valid for only six months.

My request however asked for documentation of the council's understanding of the contingencies for a price which, given the time scale required to get such a project underway, is effectively an estimate.

The council did flag the potential effect of an adverse foreign exchange rate change. In March 2010 the council told residents: "The capital cost of the scheme is $5.6 - 6.6 million .... The range in the capital cost estimate is due to changes in foreign exchange rates since the project was priced in 2008 [actually 2007]." What was the basis of this statement ?

Another contingency that I had in mind was the status of any discounts on the pump units. Is it true that E-One heavily discounted the price of the pump units to Blakelys ? If yes, then I would expect there to be documentation of council's understanding of the potential for loss/reduction of this discount.

Perhaps council gave little thought to contingencies; they did state to residents in January 2008: "... the costs will not exceed the max agreed price [of $5,645,000].". Lack of documentation is surely evidence of a lack of thought.

Yours faithfully,

Jack Whitehead

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #2655 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This message may contain privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not an intended recipient of this message you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution or reproduction of this message is prohibited.

If you have received this message in error please notify the sender immediately and erase all copies of the message and attachments.

Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of Manawatu District Council.

This email has been scrubbed for your protection by Sophos PureMessage and SMX.

hide quoted sections

Dear Mr Whitehead

 

Thank you for your email.

 

For the purpose of completion, this email is to reconfirm that no further
information is available on contingencies around the Himatangi Beach
Sewerage Scheme 2007-2010.

 

I trust this satisfactorily completes your LGOIMA request.

 

Regards

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

l HAMISH WAUGH l General Manager - Infrastructure l
l Manawatu District Council l  Private Bag 10001 l  Feilding 4743 l
l P: 06 323 0000 l F: 06 323 0822 l [1]www.mdc.govt.nz l

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Our people delivering great service to our community."

 

 

"Our people delivering great service to our community."

-----Original Message-----

From: MDC Public Enquiries

Sent: Wednesday, 20 May 2015 4:56 p.m.

To: fyi-request-2655-435bb9a3@requests. fyi. org. nz
([2][FOI #2655 email])

Cc: Aimee Flanders; Records

Subject: FW: Official Information Act request - Contingencies attached to
Himatangi Beach sewerage scheme pricing 2007-2010.

 

We have received your email.

 

I have forwarded this to the relevant areas.  You will get a response in
due course.

 

 

Regards, Trena

 

| TRENA HOKIANGA | Business Support Officer | Manawatu District Council

| | Private Bag 10001 | Feilding 4743 |

| P: 06 323 0000 | F: 06 323 0822 | [3]www.mdc.govt.nz |

 

"Our people delivering great service to our community."

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Jack Whitehead
[[4]mailto:[FOI #2655 email]]

Sent: Wednesday, 20 May 2015 4:17 p.m.

To: MDC Public Enquiries

Subject: Re: Official Information Act request - Contingencies attached to
Himatangi Beach sewerage scheme pricing 2007-2010.

 

Dear Manawatu District Council,

 

Thank you for the information you have given.

 

I take it that the documentation in which Blakelys detailed the price for
the scheme contains no significant mention of contingencies.  This is of
course to be expected given that it was a fixed price valid for only six
months.

 

My request however asked for documentation of the council's understanding
of the contingencies for a price which, given the time scale required to
get such a project underway, is effectively an estimate.

 

The council did flag the potential effect of an adverse foreign exchange
rate change. In March 2010 the council told residents: "The capital cost
of the scheme is $5.6 - 6.6 million .... The range in the capital cost
estimate is due to changes in foreign exchange rates since the project was
priced in 2008 [actually 2007]."  What was the basis of this statement ?

 

Another contingency that I had in mind was the status of any discounts on
the pump units. Is it true that E-One heavily discounted the price of the
pump units to Blakelys ? If yes, then I would expect there to be
documentation of council's understanding of the potential for
loss/reduction of this discount.

 

Perhaps council gave little thought to contingencies; they did state to
residents in January 2008: "... the costs will not exceed the max agreed
price [of $5,645,000].".  Lack of documentation is surely evidence of a
lack of thought.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Jack Whitehead

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[5][FOI #2655 email]

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[6]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

 

If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA page.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This message may contain privileged and confidential information intended
only for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not an
intended recipient of this message you are hereby notified that any use,
dissemination, distribution or reproduction of this message is prohibited.

If you have received this message in error please notify the sender
immediately and erase all copies of the message and attachments.

Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and
may not necessarily reflect the views of Manawatu District Council.

This email has been scrubbed for your protection by Sophos PureMessage and
SMX.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.mdc.govt.nz/
2. mailto:[FOI #2655 email]
3. http://www.mdc.govt.nz/
4. mailto:[FOI #2655 email]
5. mailto:[FOI #2655 email]
6. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

hide quoted sections