Tender for AgriSaveur project manager goes out for second time

Tender for AgriSaveur project manager goes out for second time

At the MRC Pontiac council of mayors meeting on January 24, council passed a resolution to issue a second call for tenders to hire a project manager for their AgriSaveur initiative. The goal is to create a shared facility for local producers to process and brand agricultural products from the region. The project was the biggest recipient of funding from the FRR component 4, receiving $450,000 of the $2,032,000 allocated last year.

MRC Director General Kim Lesage explained that they only had one response to the previous call for tender, which closed on January 16, and that bid was not admissible. She said that the second call was the same as the first, seeking an individual or organization to spearhead the development and management the facility.

Lesage said that if they don’t have any admissible offers on this call, they might consider increasing the compensation or splitting up the tasks into multiple positions.

At the December 20 meeting, council voted to create a non-profit for the operation of the facility, with Lesage, Mansfield Mayor Sandra Armstrong and UPA Regional President Claude Vallières being named as founding members, with two remaining spaces for yet-to-be-named members of Pontiac’s agricultural and business community. Also at the December meeting, the mayors voted to hire the firm Malette to conduct market research for the project, at a cost of $62,500.