WATERLOO REGION — Despite a last-minute attempt to stall the project by opponents, Region of Waterloo councillors voted 11-4 Tuesday to award a nearly $2-billion contract for light rail transit to construction consortium GrandLinq.

The region dubbed its system the Ion. Trains will run 19 kilometres from Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to Fairview Park mall in Kitchener in 2017.

"Ion is the right move, at the right time, for the right reasons," Coun. Sean Strickland said.

But the decision was neither unanimous, nor quick.

"It's the age-old debate of are you for or are you against," Coun. Tom Galloway said.

Councillors heard from more than a dozen delegations and debated the issue for more than three hours. They even dealt with a threat of legal action, including injunction, from legal counsel for Jay Aissa of the grassroots group stoplightrail.ca.

"This is just the beginning of a co-ordinated effort to stop the career politicians on regional council from forcing decisions on the LRT before election day," Aissa said.

He said the project violates Ontario Planning Act rules.

"We don't believe there's any substance to the claim," Regional Chair Ken Seiling said.

Councillors Jean Haalboom, Claudette Millar and Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig, along with Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran voted against the project.

Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran said she heard in the 2010 election and since then that many Waterloo residents don't support light rail.

"My job as an elected official is to respect the voice of the people who elected me," Halloran said.

Waterloo resident Eleanor Grant supports the project, but worries about service for Cambridge and skyrocketing rents in the core that could squeeze out low-income people.

"The LRT should be uniting us, not dividing us," she said.

Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig said the city's residents are livid about paying for light rail trains in Kitchener and Waterloo when they will only receive express buses.

"There's a disconnect … between the City of Cambridge and the rest of the region," he said. "This is only going to exacerbate that."

Express buses will travel 17 kilometres from the Fairview Park mall light rail stop to the Ainslie Street transit terminal in Cambridge.

"I'm going to do what I consider to be best for the people in my community, being under a regional … government," Township of Wellesley Mayor Ross Kelterborn said. "We all know what regional means, even if we don't get what we want."

With the exception of Township of North Dumfries Mayor Rob Deutschmann, who could not vote due to a conflict, all the township mayors supported the contract award. It will see the construction group design, build, finance, operate and maintain the system over a 30-year period at cost of $1.9 billion.

The GrandLinq consortium bid $532 million. Officials budgeted $545 million. It falls within a larger $818-million budget that also pays for consultants, utility locations and other related costs.

GrandLinq had the highest overall technical and financial scores among three shortlisted contenders. Details of the other bids were not released by the region.

It will cost about $48 million more over the life of the contract to finance the project using a private partner than if the region used a more traditional building process, according to chief financial officer Craig Dyer.

Financing costs are higher because cities are able to obtain lower interest rates on debt, generally, than the private sector.

By using a private partner, the region says it gets better cost certainty. Cost overruns for items including materials and labour must be dealt with by the private partner.

Unforeseen issues, such as contaminated soil, could result in the region paying some or all of the unexpected costs. The region set aside a contingency.

Coun. Jean Haalboom opposes the public-private partnership. She said private businesses are driven to make a profit, not answer to taxpayers.

"I don't understand how we are willing to let this get out of our hands," Haalboom said.

In addition to light rail construction, GrandLinq will also do $61 million in other construction projects, including roadwork.

Cost has been one of the key sticking points for opponents of light rail.

A planned tax increase of up to 12.9 per cent spread over 2011 to 2019 for light rail and bus expansion will be sufficient to cover costs of financing, operations and maintenance, officials say.

Since 2011, the average regional taxpayer paid $219 toward launching rail transit and expanding buses. By 2019, it's estimated the average regional taxpayer will have paid more than $1,000, and annual taxes will be about $200 per year higher than in 2011.

Politicians say they are helping to pay for the project using savings the province is providing by taking over some welfare costs and from paying off mortgages.

"LRT is not about cost as many proclaim, but value," said Kevin Thomason.

Politicians want to limit growth into the countryside and focus development in city cores. They argue light rail will bring that intensification. They also want to limit the new roads that need to be built as the region grows.

"Without the Ion, we would need to build some 500 new lane kilometres of roads in the next 20 years," Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr said. "The cost of that is $1.4 billion.

The provincial government committed up to $300 million toward the capital budget, while the federal government committed up to $265 million.

The plan was approved by regional councillors in June 2011 and construction could begin as early as this summer.

Waterloo Region LRT Contract Report Mar 4 2014 by WR_Record