Kincardine council

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The two lowest bids for the $3.1-million gymnasium at the Davidson Centre in Kincardine have come in over the budgeted figure by more than $400,000.

Recreation director Karen Kieffer presented the report in committee-of-the-whole Wednesday night (May 5).

The tenders were opened the day before and the two lowest bids came from Henderson Builders Limited at $3,577,615; and from Allen-Hastings Limited at $3,599,000.

"Our project budget for this undertaking was $3,141,840," said Kieffer. So, the two contractors have been asked to review the project and see if they can make cuts in order to meet the budgeted figure.

Then, at the planning and corporate services committee meeting next Wednesday (May 12), the recreation committee will present council with two options:

• The full project as submitted by the low bid contractor, representing an additional funding requirement to council of $435,775, plus building permit and HST (harmonized sales tax).
• A scaled-back version of the project which is more closely aligned with the original budget allocation - this option may still require an additional contribution from the recreation reserve fund to finance the project.

"We were anticipating a cost of $3.6-million," said deputy mayor Laura Haight. "These figures are good."

Chief administrative officer John deRosenroll said there total amount included $350,000 from fund-raising. To date, that figure stands at $320,000 and that affects the overall shortfall for the project.

"We should not cheap-out on this project," said Haight. "Otherwise, two to three years from now, we'll be kicking ourselves for not funding it properly and doing it right."

Councillor Guy Anderson said the fund-raising committee has $200,000 yet to come. He also noted there is $300,000 in reserve for a big event that has not been touched.

The issue will come to council for further discussion May 12.

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Thursday, May 06, 2010