The new $45-million aquatic and curling centre project that broke ground last year is currently $990,000 over budget.
The information was included in the town’s quarter one financial report for 2016.
“Obviously no one is excited to be over budget,” Mayor Ivan Brooker said.
“I am a little disgruntled but still happy where we are at.”
The extra expenses stemmed from construction workers discovering the ground was not as compacted as originally thought. As a result, soil had to be removed, re-compacted, and additional fill and concrete were added to stabilize the site.
The additional work and material resulted in almost $1 million of extra charges.
Suzanne Gaida, senior manager with community services, explained the project was on-track construction and budget-wise until this “mishap.”
“We had not anticipated for that, we always knew we would have to do some fill but we had not anticipated it would not be compacted properly,” Gaida explained.With an even level parking lot on the land prior to construction of the new facility, there were no signs to indicate the land underneath was under-compacted, Gaida explained.
“It is frustrating when you work hard to keep on budget, (and) I thought we would be able to keep this under budget,” Coun. Jeff Toews said.
Administration is currently working with developers, Tango and Stantec, to find cost savings and efficiencies on the remainder of the construction to help mitigate the overage. If the additional expenses cannot be covered by cost-savings, the funding for the $990,000 would come from a combination of future grants and community enhancement levies.
The aquatic and curling multisport facility is a little more than a year into construction and was originally set to open 18 to 24 months after construction began. Currently the town is in discussion with Rocky View County (RVC) to finalize details for the 20-page agreement on when the new centre will open and how it will be operated.
The county has reviewed the document, sending it back with changes and “a lot of red circles,” Toews stated. “I am hoping we are really close (to an agreement), it feels like it has been a long time.”
The full project update will be presented to council on Sept. 12 to address all aspects of the project, administration said.
The mayor mentioned there would be more discussion in-camera.
Other budget notes:
The Riverfront Park project was also expected to be $90,000 over budget as the budget approved was prior to the 2013 flood. The additional design work included work by Alberta Environment in the waterways, a dog-friendly surface to the Griffin Road underpass and to add sod to the well-used berms in the playground area. The additional cost is being covered by pathway insurance proceeds and a Disaster Recovery Program grant.
Bow Meadows pedestrian trail project is expected to be $170,000 under budget, due to the fact the pathway between the creek and the community cannot be replaced because of reoccurring flood damage.
