Council approves extra $2.2M

The city will spend $2.2 million more than originally budgeted to complete the first phase of development at Prince Arthur’s Landing.

Council on Monday night was told the 15 per cent increase over the original $14.6 million it was going to contribute became necessary as design plans were finalized, and it was noted that the original estimate was based on 2007 costs, not 2010 costs.
Overall, the cost is rising from $45.3 million to $49.3 million, with $1.8 million of that coming from outside sources. The city's portion will come from money already allocated for phase two of the project, the new marina, which already has a healthy head start on funding.

Council approved the decision by a 9-2 vote, with Neebing Coun. Linda Rydholm and at-large Coun. Larry Hebert casting negative votes. Rydholm has long opposed the project, while Hebert is in favour of waterfront development, but against the location of a proposed hotel and condominium development.

Mayor Lynn Peterson and Coun. Trevor Giertuga were not in attendance.

Waterfront project manager Katherine Dugmore presented an update on the controversial project during Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting, and said she never claimed the original figures were locked in place.

"I did advise council that the budget was an order of magnitude cost and there would be project changes, and actually Coun. (Joe) Virdiramo asked me if I could guarantee that the costs would stay the same. I think my answer was it would be foolish to do at that time, just because of the nature of where the project was at," Dugmore said.

She went on to say the updated budget includes actual tendered costs, with much more detail included than was the case when the project first got off the ground three years ago.

"We’re confident the budget that we submit today will be sufficient to complete the work ... and that it will implement the original vision of the master plan," Dugmore said.

Had council not approved the additional money, Dugmore said she had planned to suggest that council revert to the original budget, realizing they would lose some of the planned design features, or consider an even more drastic set of cuts to the plans.

Coun. Frank Pullia questioned why the budget information took so long to reach council chambers, stressing that the city’s elected municipal officials control the purse strings, not administration.

"(We have to ask) now, is this kind of Cadillac approach that we want, or maybe a Buick would do it," Pullia said.

"Certainly things have changed, and actually up until December 2009 we hadn’t even heard from FedNor yet. Between June of 2009 and November of 2009, we basically received $36.5 million in funding. We’re not coming to council suggesting that we do a project that is another $5 million more than we were expecting," Dugmore said.

"We’re not making a Cadillac just because we received additional funding. We honestly are, and have been proceeding with what we believe was originally the intent of the master plan."

City manager Tim Commisso concurred, saying it’s not uncommon to see budgets rise slightly for projects that stretch out over long periods of time.

"The further you get a long in this project in terms of design, the better idea you have with respect to your costs," Commisso said.

Coun. Rebecca Johnson asked for more regular budget updates on the Prince Arthur’s Landing project, particularly in light of the fact $30 million of work must be completed between now and March 31, 2011 to meet federal and provincial stimulus funding deadlines.

Johnson said she’s questioned frequently about the project and wants to be as up-to-date as possible.

"I need to make sure that the information I have is current, or I’m going to be calling Ms. Dugmore and saying what’s the status of the financial update of the Prince Arthur’s Landing," she said. "I’m not saying it has to be quarterly, but it can’t be yearly."

Commisso suggested tying the requested reports to reports already required by council as tenders are sent out and returned.

Rydholm took the opportunity to again question the need for a seven-storey hotel and two similar sized condominium units, asking Dugmore to confirm that with the exception of funding tied to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, none of the money accessed through the two senior levels of government required any private-sector funding whatsoever.