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Town getting good value; Stantec |
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Wednesday, 23 April 2008 |
Question period was wide open during council's April 14 meeting.
By Jennifer Elves
Taber Times
With Stantec Consulting Ltd. representatives there to answer questions regarding unforeseen expenses with the Aquafun Centre upgrades, members of council fired away with a volley of queries.
Last month, town council approved allocating an additional $266,692.51 in its capital budget, from capital reserves, for work beyond the original scope outlined for the Aquafun Centre addition and renovation project. The total amount being designated for the unexpected work includes $241,692.51, which will be needed, and $25,000 in case further unexpected costs come up.
Some of the additional work is on the tile surface of the leisure pool and hot tub, exterior entrance brick and stucco, replacement of main entrance doors and acoustic materials.
"We can't predict until we start taking things apart," said Trent Purvis, a representative of Stantec who was at the meeting with Len Hendricks of Stantec. "We decided during construction to complete things that may have not been seen during the design (phase)."
He stressed with the additional work being done, the public is going to appreciate the facility when they have access to it again later this month or early in May.
Representatives assured council with the new scope of work being completed, the town is getting good value for what it is paying. They also emphasized tasks such as working late and timing work accordingly were done to ensure the pool would be ready for its scheduled opening date of May 5.
Coun. Murray Rochelle stressed he could not see why additional work being done in regards to the sliding doors and acoustic materials was not originally detected in the first appraisal of the project. He noted there have been problems with the doors for several years.
Purvis explained the original estimate was intended to be specifically for mechanical work and a few other items, and was not supposed to be in regards to a comprehensive view of the whole facility. Rochelle emphasized the work on the sliding doors and the acoustic materials still should have been mentioned to the town earlier as suggestions.
Coun. Bekkering said while he could understand Stantec was not hired to assess the whole facility, changes with the pumps, valves and duct are mechanical issues.
Hendricks advised when it came to the duct work, it was a matter of going from a planned paint job to replacing the whole thing, because they realized it was full of holes. He explained the additional work on the pumps was the result of a poor judgment call.
When addressing the issue of the valves, he said the additional work should have been included in the design, as the valves were leaking and needed to be replaced.
Coun. Abe Andres questioned why the original study did not turn into a full review of the facility as the study was happening. He stressed if the review had become more intense and covered the entire facility, some of the additional work would have been discovered earlier, allowing council to request necessary additional funding.
Purvis indicated the project started off on a small scale being, specifically intended to replace a filter, and then changed to include a review of the mechanical room. He added the decision was made at that time to not proceed any further with more extensive reviews. |
