Mayor and councillors were less than pleased with administration’s detailed reveal that the aquatic/multi-sport centre has upped the budget overrun to 6.6 per cent - to $3 million from $1 million.
This bumps the total price tag for the project to $48 million from $45 million.
The overrun is due to a combination of unforeseeable site ground conditions (reported earlier this spring and the initial $1 million overrun), resulting in an anticipated three-month delay in opening (March 2017 to June 2017) and associated site operations costs; structural change orders; and added contingencies, all amounting to the extra $2 million.
“We’re not on time and we’re not on budget and I just wish we knew all this right away,” said a disappointed Mayor Ivan Brooker, adding that while he is “upset with the contractors” the project as a whole is still a case where “the positives outweigh the negatives”.
Brooker added in respect to possible future overruns, “This better not happen.”
Stantec is the engineer and Tango Construction is handling the project management.
Suzanne Gaida, senior manager of community services for the town, said that while the overrun is disappointing, “the community needs to know we’re building a safe facility and nothing is being compromised.”
Council voted unanimously to delay refinancing the existing $19 million loan for five years, 2017-2021 (adding two years onto the existing loan) until budget deliberations later this fall to determine the impact on other capital projects.
According to administration, “This funding strategy would result in no change to the other planned projects in the town’s Ten Year Financial Strategy from 2016.” Highlighted projects include the bridge, the new RCMP station and the wastewater capacity upgrade.
It would also reduce the annual repayments to $3.8 million from the current $6.3 million. Additional borrowing is not required to fund the project overage.
Administration is recommending the shortfall to be covered by an additional $1 million in developer community enhancement fees, $800,000 from building permit interest income, $100,000 from gas tax federal grant monies and the balance from MSI funding.
The result in using more MSI funding for the aquatic/multi-sport facility would mean possible delays in a future off-site levy project – a grade-separated crossing at Centre Avenue planned for 2025; more debt financing would be required to address this project.
While the Rock the Waves fundraising campaign is at $4.7 million – approaching the halfway mark to its goal of $10.6 million; the shortfall would come from MSI funding.
Gaida recognized that while larger donations become more difficult to fundraise once projects are completed, the project is only halfway through its fundraising initiative (2014-2019) and that “raising sponsorship dollars will become easier (upon completion) and there will be more affordable ways to contribute to the project.”
