Okanagan Regional Library directors will vote next week on a proposal to increase the budget for Vernon's new library. Financial officer Don Nettleton says in a report to the board of directors, it may be impossible to bring the new building in at 11 million dollars "without significantly impacting functionality." He says the true cost may be closer to 13.5 million when you include "soft costs" which normally run as much as 15 percent. "We know that some estimates were generous, but even allowing for that it seems very unlikely we can build the needed building for only $11 million." He's recommending using two million dollars from a building reserve fund, for the new branch.
The reserve was set up to accumulate funds in anticipation of new branches, in particular Vernon and Summerland. About $500,000 a year had been put in the account for the new Vernon branch, and $50,000 for Summerland. Nettleton says designing the building to be smaller or with less features could be an option but cautions it might not meet the needs of the population. "Given that we already were assuming a building sized to current population and were not counting on adding significant special finishing or features, there may not be too much room here without compromising the building functionality or adding operating costs."The ORL is borrowing $11 million through the North Okanagan Regional District in order to get a better interest rate. The new facility will be located on 30th Avenue downtown, across from the Tolko building.
Photo: Design of new Vernon Library
No comments:
Post a Comment