The members of city council will have a bit more time to decide what exactly will be included in a proposed aquatic and recreation complex in Timmins, but city staff is urging the decisions to be made as soon as possible.
A presentation from two members of the Perkins + Will design firm, Duff Balmer and Phil Fenech, along with the city's Director of Community and Development Services Mark Jensen on Monday allowed council to ask questions and give their input on the schematic design images which were recently released.
Councillors were generally quite pleased with the visuals and the early design, with some pointing out smart use of natural light, as well as making the facility feel very appropriate for the area.
"Obviously they don't want to go through the entire detailed design process without getting feedback from council, and then have them say 'we want to take this item in the middle of the facility out' that would be quite problematic from a design and scope of contract point of view." said Mayor Steve Black after the meeting.
Adding to a bit of confusion was the two different 'total costs' estimates within the council package. Perkins + Will had it listed at $48 million, while the City of Timmins document listed $36.6 million.
"There is two different numbers that are out there. $36 million is the construction cost. There's another $9 million of costs that are 'soft costs' such as furnishing the facility, buying all the parts to complete the components, fees and legal costs that go with it, and consultant costs, and so forth. So the total project costs currently sits at $45.7 million, which is just under $2 million under what the $48 million conceptual cost was when we started this detailed design process," said Black.
During the presentation, Councillor Joe Campbell said although he agreed the building looks good, he is concerned about significantly higher day-to-day operating costs on such a large facility. This was also pointed out by the Timmins Chamber of Commerce in their recent letter to mayor and council.
Regarding operating costs, Black said he agreed with those in the community who want at least a solid estimate on operating costs with the new facility compared to the current.
"You can't do those until you know what the facility you're building is. Until you know if you're going to include slides and lazy rivers, and kids pools, and other aspects. You can't decide how much staff and maintenance you're going to have on the facility. So we need to complete this detailed engineering design."
A resolution will be on the next council agenda (Feb. 6) seeking support for continuing the detailed design with all of the current components. The project is currently at a 'Class C' estimate, and Black is hoping there can be a 'Class A' or 'B' cost estimate as soon as possible.
He reiterated that the project will not move forward without significant upper level government funding.
"If not, it will have to be put on hold until those funding programs are available for the council of the day to apply and seek that funding."
To date, the design work is still within the council approved $1.2 million, and no additional costs in that regard are anticipated.
