Read the full story in the Dec. 7 edition of The Interior News.
The $6-million Smithers Regional Airport expansion is now an $8.17-million expansion.
Smithers council met with architects from Moore Wilson Architects Inc last week, where the readjusted cost was revealed.
It will met again this Tuesday evening to consider the recommendation by airport manager Rob Blackburn to approve the budget and start the 30-day alternative approval process (AAP) again in January, which requires less than 10 per cent of registered voters to vote against borrowing $3 million in order for the project to move forward.
The projected timeline has been moved back a month to compensate for the new budget process.
Tendering is expected to be completed by April 1, with construction commencing on May 1 and completion in 2019.
Renovations actually came in $500,000 lower than projected, but new construction went up over $2.7 million.
The Aug. 9 estimate this year was for just over $3 million for new construction.
The Oct. 18 adjusted new construction cost is now over $5.7 million.
Costs of $589,200 for design, $318,404 for project contingency, and $150,000 for project management remain the same.
The size of the building’s footprint and major components have not changed.
Annual debt servicing costs would grow from $136,000 to $190,000.
Moore Wilson list of probable areas of cost increase included site work, geo exchange field and mechanical systems, $271,000 for a hazmat component to clear out asbestos and lead paint, construction inflation, limiting confined spaces (crawlspaces) to avoid new training requirements, and an enhanced building envelope to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Furniture and interior work were also additional costs.
While the Town plans on borrowing $1 million more, it is also relying on obtaining $1.125 million of additional grants: $125,000 from NDI, $250,000 from the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako, and $750,000 from the Province’s BC Air Access grant program.
