Budget doubles for police transit terminal office

The cost to set up a small office for Peterborough Police in the downtown Peterborough Transit terminal is now more than double what city council planned to spend on it last year: instead of $50,000, the office is now expected to cost $116,000.

Council approved a plan in September 2018 to convert an unused commercial space at the transit station on Simcoe Street into an office for police.

The idea was to have a satellite office, staffed sporadically by police, to increase security at the transit terminal, which sees roughly 13 police calls monthly.

A city staff report from 2018 estimated the cost to convert the space at $50,000 — but now the cost has ballooned to $116,000 — $66,000 more than planned.

When the job went to tender recently, states a new city staff report, the least expensive of six bidders — Mortlock Construction of Cavan Monaghan Township — offered to do the work for $89,130.

Add fees for design, building permits and a contingency fund and the total is $116,000, the report states.

It suggests that the additional $66,000 could be taken from a $100,000 fund that the city’s budget has for replacement of various flooring in the Peterborough Police station on Water Street.

The renovations needed to create the satellite office include a new accessible washroom for staff, computer network upgrades, frosting for the exterior glass and a new exit into the terminal’s parking garage.

The new report doesn’t explain exactly why the construction cost is higher than expected.

Almost all of those renovations — except for the new exit to the parking garage — were included in the city staff report from a year ago.

If city council agrees to the extra spending, construction could start in early October and be completed by January.