A more costly Vernon library project has got the backing of the Okanagan Regional Library board. The board has agreed to add $1.65 million from reserves, for a total cost of $12.65 million. The money comes from a 'building reserve account' that has seen the board socking away up to $500,000 a year, for the new branch. ORL Executive director Lesley Dieno says work on the downtown site could start this fall. She tells KISS FM, "The project manager, Jim Hiebert from Task, said they would like to start digging the hole (excavating the site) in November." Dieno says the extra funds are needed for soft costs which include legal, architect, project manager and other fees. She says the vote was not unanimous. "I don't have in front of me what the weighted vote was, but it was considerably in favour of adding the money." The new branch at 2808 30th Avenue across from the Tolko building is expected to take a year to build. The building will be 30,000 square feet, more than double the current library's 13,000 sq ft. The city of Vernon sold the land for the development to ORL for $10, and also agreed to waive the usual zoning and bylaw fees to keep the project's cost down. The ORL is borrowing 11 million dollars from the Municipal Finance Authority through the North Okanagan Regional District, in order to get competitive rates-----------
Vernon Project Gets Cash Boost from ORL Board hands over 1.65 million dollars more
The Okanagan Regional Library board has approved a 1.65-million dollar increase in the cost of building a new library in Vernon. The board is drawing on reserves to cover so-called soft costs, which councillor Shawn Lee says are ``the project manager and some of the architectural stuff.'' The amount is less than the two-million requested. Lee admits there was plenty of debate before the figure was approved. He says taxpayers won't be burdened by the added payment. In terms of the project itself, the first shovel in the ground is expected in November although Lee warns there could be some delay. The public has yet to see the plan for the new library.
1 comment:
Shawn Lee does not know what he is talking about-"it will not cost more money for taxpayers" This guy does not get it-if you have reserve funds and you use them up for something like this,then when you need to rebuild the reserve funds,who is going to pay-well hallo-the taxpayer.The sooner this guy goes the better for all taxpayers.
Post a Comment