Tenders closed on Thursday (February 28) for Wattle Range Council’s proposed new multi-million-dollar Millicent office.
A request was made by this newspaper to council for the number of tenders, if any, and the headquarters of these firms.
However, a council spokesperson said such information would first be provided by chief executive Ben Gower in a report to the 11 current elected members before its public release.
The tender was posted on January 15 and was originally due to close on February 15.
It was subsequently extended by 13 days.
A brief written report on the tender process from council’s program manager Craig Turner was tabled at the council’s February monthly meeting and it attracted no comment.
Mr Turner said the Tenders SA website showed a large amount of early interest.
Mr Turner said there were more than seventy downloads, eight requests for extra information, and council staff have uploaded four addendums.
He said a site inspection was held on February 6.
“Council staff engaged BUILDSERV to undertake the building approval in early January,” Mr Turner said.
“This process is expected to take several weeks and align in preparation for the successful tender.”
In anticipation of preliminary building work on the office beginning in this financial year, council set aside $3m in its 2023/24 budget.
Deputy chief executive Paul Duka told an open council workshop a week ago the anticipated costs of the proposed new Millicent council office had been factored into council’s long-term financial plan.
