Council approves construction manager

JOHN MOORHOUSE/Penticton Herald Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Memories of cost over-runs on the South Okanagan Events Centre has Penticton city council moving cautiously on the $23.3-million community centre pool upgrade. Council approved the hiring of a construction manager for the project Monday, but not without a lot of attention focused on the project budget. Stuart Olson Construction of Vancouver, at a cost of $2.67 million, was chosen over three other firms short-listed for the project. John Kirbyson, the city‘s director of parks, recreation and culture, said the project will likely require 10 major and 15 minor contracts to be awarded. Local companies will still have an opportunity to bid on those contracts as they come forward. Council voted 5-2 to hire the construction management team, with councillors John Vassilaki and Mike Pearce opposed.

Vassilaki said he has “huge concerns” over the project. Pointing to cost overruns and other construction problems with the Events Centre, he wondered who would be held accountable if something goes wrong with the pool upgrade. “In the last project, no one was accountable for anything that happened,” he said. “I want to know in this project, who‘s going to be accountable if anything does go wrong. Primarily, I‘m talking about financial accountability.” Kirbyson said the SOEC was built on a design-build process which differs the community centre project. He added the companies and the city will all be tracking costs closely. “Ultimately it‘s the responsibility of staff to report through to council on the budget.” he said. Final construction costs for the Events Centre are expected to be revealed to city council within the next few weeks. The entire project is expected to top $80 million. Council also approved the schematic design for the pool upgrade, which will include $4 million in improvements to the entire community centre‘s structural, mechanical and electrical components.

Coun. Garry Litke said for an extra $3 million in local funding, the city is getting a $23-million upgrade. The city has obtained $15.2 million in senior government grants for the project. Meanwhile, it took three attempts for council to arrive at an agreeable limit for the project steering committee to approve contracts without gaining prior council approval. In a bid to streamline the process, the committee will be allowed to approve contracts up to a maximum of $200,000 instead of the existing $50,000 limit. The majority of council rejected motions calling for $100,000 and $300,000 limits.