Some West 91大黄鸭 councillors are criticizing former senior staff for what they describe as poor decisions regarding the new city hall.
鈥淭ime to talk about the elephant in the room, as far as I鈥檓 concerned,鈥� Councillor Rick de Jong said during budget deliberations on Dec. 19. 鈥淲e鈥檙e sitting in a beautiful new city hall, and yet we鈥檙e looking at a brand new building that鈥檚 going to require $195,000 in additional costs over and above the budget.鈥�
According to budget documents, $115,000 of the additional costs will go toward acoustic improvements in the council chambers, and $85,000 will be used to design parking lot upgrades and expansion. Those who have attended council meetings are familiar with the severe echo in the chamber, which makes it difficult to hear what council and staff are saying.
鈥淭hen to hear today that the library has the acoustics that this room needs,鈥� de Jong added. 鈥淐learly, they thought about it. Why didn鈥檛 we?鈥�
The Okanagan Regional Library, which partnered with the city on the building, owns the portion of the building downstairs from the council chambers. De Jong expressed frustration that the former senior staff members responsible for the city hall decisions are no longer available to answer the council鈥檚 questions.
鈥淚n my mind, this is a good example of a lot of lessons that need to be learned and what can be done differently on projects of this nature moving forward,鈥� he said.
Councillor Stephen Johnston also felt council had been excluded from important discussions with the former senior management. 鈥淚t is frustrating,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his whole project, throughout.鈥�
Council approved the expenditures. The acoustic upgrades and parking lot expansion design will be funded through the city鈥檚 capital reserves.
Originally budgeted at $18 million, the new city hall, which opened in May, came in well over budget at $22.79 million. Construction delays and supply disruptions caused the project to be stretched out over several months.
Council is expected to wrap up budget deliberations today.
