Orangeville council has approved a third tender award for work on the town's "GUDI" wells on being advised that the cost, at slightly over $1.5 million, will be significantly below the engineer's estimate.

The winning bid of $1,569,945 plus GST came from Enviro-Con

Engineering and Construction Ltd. of Guelph. It was the lowest of six submitted, all of which were below the engineer's estimate for the work of $2.2 million.

The tender was approved subject only to the Town obtaining a Certificate of Approval for all the proposed well upgrades

from Ontario's Ministry of the Environment.

Public Works Director Jack Tupling said the Town has already received a draft approval from the ministry and he expects final approval, opening the door for actual construction to commence, "within a couple of weeks."

Although Mr. Tupling had high praise for the ministry's speed in responding to the Town's application, he said Orangeville will likely have to seek an extension on the current January 1, 2007, deadline for completion of the well work, total cost of which had been estimated at about $17 million.

Mr. Tupling said council has now awarded three of six contracts involved in the overall project, which is designed to protect Orangeville's drinking water from surface-water

contamination of the sort that proved deadly in Walkerton and led to tough new regulations under a provincial Safe Drinking Water Act passed in 2004.

The wells in question are all to have added filtration and treatment designed to kill any bacteria before the well water enters the town's supply system.

Mr. Tupling said that although all three tenders awarded to date have been at quotes below the engineer's cost estimates, it's too soon for him to say whether the overall project

will come in below the $17-million estimate made at the time the project was subject to an environmental assessment.

The latest tender relates to providing a treatment system for Well 10, located south of town in Caledon, just west of Highway 10.

The project involves locating a treatment plant at the corner of a community park on Marshall Crescent, at the point where a new raw water supply watermain along McCannel Avenue will join the town system.