Morinville will have to shell out even more than expected for its renovated civic centre, and the town’s mayor says council should have done more to keep the project’s costs in check.
Town council learned last week that the renovations to St. Germain Place (which contains the town office and library) would cost $4,222,647.26, or $22,647.26 more than budgeted.
That budget had already been upped to $4.2 million in April after stunning revelations that the project was almost a million dollars over budget.
Renovations to St. Germain Place started in summer 2011, and were originally priced at $2.8 million with a budget of $3.5 million.
That changed last February when project proponents ONPA Architects and builder Synergy Projects Ltd. told council that they were going to be around $867,420 over budget.
ONPA spokesperson Robert Black blamed the overruns on many late-game changes to the renovation, including structural reinforcement needed to support two additions, asbestos removal, an upgraded heating system and new electrical panels.
Although Black had initially committed to keeping the final price of the project to $4 million or less, that changed in April when it became apparent that ONPA’s $171,675 fee was fixed by contract. Instead, Synergy agreed to keep its share of the bill under $4 million.
Synergy managed to finish the renovations for $3,966,763.99, said public works director Claude Valcourt, or just below what they had promised, but $210,388.35 in architectural and management fees plus $45,494.92 in other costs (such as locksmith fees) nudged the project over budget. The excess cost was to be covered by building reserves.
Coun. David Pattison said he was disappointed that ONPA received its full fee. “We said they needed to leave some skin on the table. I don’t see any skin left by them.”
ONPA’s fee was fixed, Valcourt replied, and Synergy could not cut its costs enough to cover it.
The two companies and administration spent many hours reviewing the project “line by line, and literally nickel by nickel” to cut costs, said chief administrative officer Debbie Oyarzun. ONPA and Synergy have also agreed to do any future adjustments to the building for free.
“I’m still unsettled by this,” she said. “When these gentlemen walk in the door, they walk in on tip-toes, believe me.”
The town should have put a cap on the total fees payable to Synergy, Valcourt said, as those fees rose with every change to the project’s scope. “It’s not all bad. We’ve got a beautiful facility.”
In an interview, Mayor Paul Krauskopf blamed this overrun on poor oversight by council and poor communication with the project team, communication that may have been worsened by the firing of then-CAO Edie Doepker less than a month before construction started.
Council had asked for weekly updates during construction of the Community Cultural Centre, he noted, but did not do so for this project. “Council was neglectful in not pursuing that and not asking those questions.”
Council would have to act as a proper owner on future projects and request regular status reports, he said. “Hopefully, the residents of Morinville will understand that what happened (here) was a mistake.”
The building is expected to have space enough to house town hall and the library for 15 years.
