Uxbridge press conference discusses Culvert Project

BRANDON CLARK The Standard

UXBRIDGE: The Township of Uxbridge held a press conference, on Thursday, January 15th, to cover the replacement of a faulty culvert, on Brock Street, which has existed for over a century. The township has known it needs to be replaced for more than 30 years. Mayor Barton said, the project was delayed at the time he was elected, as the land was not owned by the Township. He mentioned other reasons for project delays, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Barton added, the culvert project is Uxbridge's most complicated project to date.

“The bottom [of the culvert] was completely rotte[d] out,” Mayor Barton explained, “It was undersized which meant flood plaining encompassed our entire downtown.”

 A culvert failing would have a significant impact on the area around it. Consequences of this would be flooding, damage to roads, property damage, traffic disruption, and environmental harm.

Construction of the project began in 2018, and has involved continuous legal disputes between general contractor Brennaan Paving & Construction Inc., engineer and contract administrator AECOM Canada Limited, and Uxbridge. With litigation and settlements included, this has amounted to a cost $26,073,557.

The Township was sued by Brennan and AECOM for a combined $8.75 million in 2021. The Township also filed a claim against them for a similar amount. In addition, AECOM submitted a smaller claim against Brenner and Uxbridge.

A framework for settling the construction claims were decided on January 16th and 17th, two years ago, when mediation took place. This was finalized on December 24th, of  last year.

“[Brennon] really wanted to get things settled in 2025,” Mayor Barton explained, “They thought they would get the signature in the next few days, and wanted to make sure we could do our part to finish this agreement in 2025. It was important for them, corporately.”

The claims against the Township were ultimately settled at 5.26 percent of the original amount, bringing the project to completion. To make the settlement happen, the Township had to agree to a certain level of confidentiality with one of the three parties. The total net amount for claims is $460,000 which reflects additional work done by Brennon and AECOM.

“I am so excited for what Uxbridge is going to look like because of where we are today,” Barton said.