Council debates hot air

Air is a hot topic for Windsor town council. A long-time plan to improve heating, cooling and ventilation systems for the second floor of the aging Walter B. Stephens building has hit a snag. The lowest bid on a new HVAC system came in at $499,500, but Council only budgeted $360,000.

Heated debate about whether or not to proceed with the project, given the new figures, occupied most of council’s May 26 session.

Most of the additional cost lies in a mistake with the original engineering estimate for the project.

Public Works director Don Beatty told council that $140,000 in electrical, plumbing and heating work was accidentally omitted from the original estimate.



The need to accommodate staff and tenants’ office use while the work is being done raises the cost of the project. Tenants on the second floor include the RCMP and MLA Chuck Porter.

Councillors would like to see the work done for the original amount budgeted, but there are serious doubts that that is possible. Cancelling the project means that uncomfortable working conditions for staff, council and tenants will persist. Also, Windsor’s commitment to host a repeater station for the Valley Community Fibre Network requires an upgraded ventilation system.

Cost savings are being looked into, but some options, like cutting back on the number of HVAC units, would undermine council’s original goal of making more of the second floor usable space. Others, like spreading the work over two or more years, would increase the overall cost of the project.

Big hurdle

Deputy Mayor Andy Kirk acknowledged the added cost is big hurdle, but made a motion to award the contract to the lowest bidder and then negotiate ways to save money. “I’m holding my nose as I say it, but I think we do have to do it.”

Coun. Liz Galbraith staunchly objected to the motion, saying, “$500,000 for basically air conditioning? I think we should sit on this for awhile.”

CAO Louis Coutinho pointed out that, as there are no plans to replace the Walter B. Stephens building, maintenance and upgrades are necessary to keep the building usable.

Mayor Anna Allen expressed concern about the unbudgeted cost, but agreed that neglecting upgrades might cost more over the long term. “You’ve got to put money into your building. You can’t let it go. The cost of renovating is only going up… We’ve gotten this close to doing something; we should make a commitment.”

Coun. Laurie Murley asked for more information on financing the cost overrun. She also was concerned about further delays to the work. “This is an asset that the town owns that we are letting deteriorate.”

After lengthy debate, Kirk said, “there obviously is a great discomfort here with councillors,” and made a second motion to postpone a decision to the June 24 meeting. At that time, Council will revisit the original motion to award the contract.

Council asked Beatty to bring further information to the June 17 Committee of the Whole and that Finance director Doug Armstrong be consulted on budget implications.