County council will consider Wednesday the approval of tenders worth more than $2 million for two capital projects.

Administration is recommending council award a $1,653,097 contract to Marcovecchio Construction to build a new Emergency Medical Services station in Tecumseh and a $516,893 tender to Front Construction Industries Inc. for the rehabilitation of a bridge on County Road 2 over the Ruscom River in Lakeshore.

Both bids were the lowest received and both were below engineer estimates for the projects.

Randy Mellow, chief of the Essex-Windsor Emergency Medical Services, said the new EMS base will be built on land owned by the county that was deemed surplus but that council decided to hang on to for future development.

The property at 975 Lesperance Rd. includes a 5,100-square foot building, used previously as a child care centre. That building will be renovated for office space, a paramedics area and a training room.

A garage addition will house ambulance bays and will more than double the building’s footprint to approximately 11,000 square feet.

“It’s built with the future in mind,” Mellow said. “It’ll be something that will definitely serve the needs in the area for decades.”

Currently the service is operating out of a leased facility at 12014 Tecumseh Rd. The lease is due to expire Dec. 13 but can be extended on a monthly basis.

Deputy Chief Dean Wilkinson said they hope to begin construction by May 1. The expected completion date is Dec. 19.

County engineer Tom Bateman said in a report to council that a pre-qualification process for contractors was used in the bidding process for the Lakeshore bridge rehabilitation because of the “complex work requiring specialized operations.”

The bridge work will require closure of County Road 2 for 10 weeks, although school buses will be allowed access until the end of the school term, Bateman said.

Extensive concrete and structural steel repairs are needed. If approved, work is expected to begin in late April.