Portage la Prairie city council is in the process of reviewing tender bids for the provision of bylaw, parking meter and animal control enforcement within the city.

In its committee meeting March 13, council discussed and reviewed administration's report on the tender proposals. Two bids came in for the service contract. One from local company Orion Security and the other from Corps of Commissionaires of Manitoba, which has handled bylaw enforcement in Portage since 2014.

Orion Security entered the low bid at $139,500. Corps of Commissionaires of Manitoba's bid was just $720 higher at $140,220.

The administrative recommendation is to award the contract to Corps of Commissionaires.

Following the committee discussion, two citizens spoke up in question period and urged council to consider awarding the tender to the local option.

“What it comes down to is not necessarily just price,” says Public Safety Committee chair Ryan Espey. “Orion was the low bidder, but the Core scored higher in our scoring criteria ... (where) we ask the methodology, logistics and how you will perform the list of duties we require.”

Administration's report to council says differences in the bids came in the proposals submitted, as they were not comparable in outlining services to be provided, company profile, experience and staffing information.

“The Corps of Commissionaires Manitoba provided a 64-page document that covered every requirement/expectation of our contract in detail,” administration's report explains. “They have fully explained how they respond to resident complaints and concerns.”

“...While the Corps of Commissionaires is not a local company, the employees supplied have to be local and live no more than 20 kilometres from the City of Portage la Prairie. They must be able to respond to emergency calls within 30 minutes of being contacted.”

Council will vote on the tender at its next meeting March 27.