There was still plenty of confusion in the council chambers last week surrounding a request from the city's Engineering Department for an extra $570,000 needed to complete work at the site of the new Tisdale Public Works Shop. A request which was ultimately granted unanimously.
Engineering Manager Pat Seguin said recently a tour of the new facility was given to some members of council.
"We first went to the original Tisdale Shop, constructed in the 1930s, just to get a perspective as to the assignment we were given to replace that shop with something equal or better," he said.
Seguin formally asked council for the $570,000 required to complete the project, and reiterated that the current facility on Evans Street has "reached its end of useful life."
"There's many issues with it. The building's constructed in a flood zone. The crew has outgrown the building."
He talked about serious deficiencies in change room, restroom, and sanitary facilities at the old shop, including a total lack of space for women.
Among the work included in the $570,000 is a new entrance onto King Street will be installed at the site at an estimated cost of $130,000.
"There is an entrance on the property, but the location of it, between the buildings, didn't give us safe access. The new entrance will also facilitate a potential future sand-salt shed that might be constructed in the future, based on some studies that will be performed," said Seguin.
"So the total required increase in budget is at $570,000 to complete this project," said Seguin.
Some of the reasons given for the inflation was a required additional 2,000 square feet of space, and poor soils.
"Based on the geotechnical reports that we had done, just before construction, identified that the foundations for the new buildings had to be a little bit deeper. The existing buildings didn't have building grounding that was added on to the new building, and that was extended around the existing buildings."
Seguin added that fire safety measures also needed to be added, including a fire door.
Overall, he said the buildings are just 'weeks away' from completion. He called the entire process 'gruelling' and thanked strong co-operation from city staff.
"There's a lot of stuff we took on in-house to cut costs. There are hydrants being moved by the public utilities group, a lot of the site work and road building is going to be done by the public works group, once we get approval to purchase some gravel."
"I must report that the project went very well as far as stuff that was tendered. Contractors did a very good job, they stayed on the projected costs that were given. I think the city's getting a great value for this important project. A much needed project," said Seguin.
Councillor Pat Bamford agreed, he said the project was 'all good news', and that the money being requested was already within the city's 2017 budget.
Councillor Joe Campbell questioned Seguin about the request.
"When I'm looking at these items, these are items that should have been obvious to any design engineering group, as being necessary to be done. So I'm not sure why we're asking for extra money for 'fencing' and 'lighting' and stuff to me that would be very obvious when you're doing the design engineering," said Campbell.
Seguin said that a lot of the items he was asking for were in the original ask.
"The problem is that the project contingency at that stage, should have been in the 30 per cent range, because it was developmental. The first ask compared options, so it's very much 'desktop'. I was given the task to get these things done, so I made sure that with the budget envelope that we had, we didn't exceed it. We cut those things out, knowing that some of it would have to get put back in. We didn't want to obligate ourselves with contracts that we didn't have a budget for."
Councillor Noella Rinaldo said she had similar concerns to Campbell, and that she had never seen such a major budget request presented in such a manner.
"My thought when I looked at this, was this is all things that should have been caught in the first architectural design. So I too was wondering why is it half a million over budget, with items that look like they should have been discussed? So I think that's the confusion, is to say we went over budget in this particular area, but it's covered in the original $2.8 (million), but then to show us things that should have been in the original drawings, is confusing when you're looking at it. Because it's half a million over the budget," she said.
Councillor Rick Dubeau said he really appreciated the tours, which made him realize the old shop is no longer a suitable work environment.
"It's decrepit. There's no two ways about that," he said.
City of Timmins Engineering Manager Pat Seguin listens to comments from council. Andrew Autio for TimminsTodayHowever, Dubeau echoed the concerns of Campbell and Rinaldo, and was told by Seguin that the original contingency for the project was only ten percent.
Bamford spoke again and didn't agree with those who said the project was over budget.
"This project is not over budget by $570,000. These items were removed because they were not totally essential to get the project started and going. We knew we were going to have to put these back in at a similar cost," he said.
Mayor Steve Black interjected by stating that the items were once included in the total estimate for the project. Later on, the city realized it could not do the project for that price, and removed certain items, and separated the project into phases in hopes of finding cheaper prices.
"But it is over budget by $570,000 versus the original project that was presented and approved to council," said Black.
Bamford wasn't satisifed.
"I don't want to argue, because you folks know the facts here. But my understanding is that when we put out the bid, and had the original contract, we knew these items had to be done 'later', so these were not things that we didn't think about or overlook, right?" he asked.
Seguin said he could summarize the entire situation succinctly.
"Those items were all included in the original report to council. The contingency amount, when you're at such an initial stage, the contingency amount has to be more than that. When an estimate is three or four years old, it has to be brought forward as far as inflation. The inflation has to be added so that the numbers get updated three years later."
"The lesson learned is the contingency really. The estimate, to me, appeared fine, the contingency amount wasn't enough," said Seguin.
Bamford still wasn't satisfied.
"I just don't want to see this as we've overlooked and somehow screwed up here. We purposely took this stuff out and knew we had to do these later at whatever cost."
Campbell couldn't resist challenging Bamford's accounting skills.
"The money was used elsewhere, that's why they were taken out. So this is a request for an increase in budget to do them now, no matter how you cut it," he said.
Seguin said within 'a month, month and a half' the entire project should be completed. The interior of the new facility will total over 18,000 square feet.
