What started out as a routine capital works project for the Village of Keremeos appears to be turning into a Nightmare on Seventh and Twelfth Avenues.
The village last year resolved to knock down the two municipal park washrooms and replace them with new, expanded buildings.
Delays in receiving tenders and staffing shortfalls last year resulted in the projects being shelved until this year. It was also thought at the time that tendering both buildings at the same time would attract more interest in the tenders, as well as a better price.
Village staff and council were hit with sticker shock at last week’s council meeting, where final details of the projects’ tendered bids came to light.
The washroom project was budgeted based on numbers recommended by the village’s engineering firm. It turned out the numbers were woefully inadequate, with bids coming in at more than twice the budgeted amount. Staff had to resharpen their pencils and take on some of the project’s construction workload to make the budget work.
What is disconcerting to staff and council – and will be to taxpaying residents, we will assume – is the amounts involved in the bids submitted.
Two concrete, cinder block buildings with minimum finishing, built to modern environmental specifications, are going to cost village taxpayers $200 per square foot for Memorial Park and $341 per square foot in Pine Park.
And no, the plans do not specify gold plated toilets, or diamond encrusted taps in either case.
No one in the village office – elected or otherwise – can say definitively why the costs appear to be so high.
“This is the reality,” said unhappy village officials during council discussions, describing the bids tendered as consistent, all coming in much higher than the cost estimates given the village by their engineers.
Construction is slated to begin next week, and we say for all involved, the sooner the better. The way this project has gone, especially budget-wise, village taxpayers may only be able to afford porta potties if there are any more delays.
