More room for city’s building division

City council plans to move the overcrowded building division from the lower level of City Hall into the Carnegie Wing and the plan may come together faster than originally planned. When city staff was preparing the 2018 budget documents, the plan was to renovate the Carnegie Wing in two phases, over a couple of years, to accommodate the building division. Council budgeted $75,000 to cover the renovation costs for 2018. But then it was determined lately that it would be less disruptive and less costly to do the work in a single phase this year. At a general committee meeting on Monday, councillors voted without discussion to dip into the building division’s reserves to cover the full cost of renovation in 2018.

It will mean spending $75,000 that was already budgeted for the renovation of the Carnegie Wing, plus a further $85,000 from the building division’s reserves. The city staff report also recommends a contractor: Snyder Construction of Ashburn, Ont. is expected to charge $125,000( excluding HST). It was the least expensive of four bids received by the city. With consulting and management fees, taxes, contingency and abatement work, the full cost of the project is expected to be $160,000. The staff report explains that the building division has been overcrowded for years in the lower level of City Hall. “Staff’s ability to review designs and drawings with customers is limited with little space to do this adequately,” the report states. When the city’s community services offices and arts, culture and heritage divisions moved to 210 Wolfe St. in June, it left the main floor of the Carnegie Wing vacant. The city clerk’s department moved there temporarily while their area was under renovation, but it’s now vacant again. The plan will need a final vote at a forthcoming city council meeting.