The District of 樱桃视频could end up paying an extra $460,000 towards the proposed Sea to Sky Adventure Centre if the provincial government doesn't come through with funds.
With a firm federal deadline looming, Victoria has not yet agreed to provide the funds the District hoped it would commit to the tourism information and recreation-booking centre.
Coun. Corinne Lonsdale took issue with the funding uncertainties and lack of details when the contract to pick a design/build contractor for the project came before council as a late item on Tuesday (Sept. 7).
"This is a late item, it's one page and this is a $2.1-million project," Lonsdale said. "This is B.S. Are we afraid to let the public know what is really going on here?"
According to Mayor Ian Sutherland, the province and the DOS are still in negotiations over provincial participation in the project.
Sutherland added that if the province doesn't help with the costs then the DOS will cover the portion currently identified as costs to be picked up by Victoria.
Then-federal Environment Minister David Anderson announced in April that his government was putting up $920,000 towards the Adventure Centre project. The federal money is coming from the Softwood Industry Community Economic Adjustment Initiative (SICEAI).
Private sector investment in the centre is coming from Canadian Hydro Developments (CHD), the company currently building a run-of-the-river power project on the Mamquam River. CHD paid $175,000 to the District as part of an amenities agreement when the power project was approved. Council decided to allocate the CHD funds towards the Adventure Centre.
The District budgeted $460,000 in capital costs - not including the $800,000 樱桃视频spent for the Adventure Centre land - and udgeted for the province to contribute another $460,000.
"As construction starts we will keep on talking to not just the province but other people as well to get the money and complete the project," said Sutherland.
If the money can't be found elsewhere then the DOS will cover the shortfall, the mayor said."We can tap into other avenues in the budget to get the money," said Sutherland. "There's money set aside for some capital projects that can be done next year."
Sutherland specifically noted the money identified in the local budget for the proposed youth gym and the community amenity building in the downtown area.
"To meet the SICEAI criteria the project has to be complete by March 31 or we lose the funding," Sutherland said in an interview with The Chief Thursday. "We need to get going with the project right away. We can wait for the $460,000 and lose the $920,000 and that doesn't make sense."
Sutherland is looking at the Adventure Centre very much as an investment in the future that will quickly pay for itself by returning money to the community.
"This is a project that at the very worst we're going to spend 64-cent dollars on," Sutherland said. "This makes money for us. This brings jobs to our community. This brings business to our community."
"We've got to move ahead with this," said Coun. Ray Peters. "We might lose the federal funding if we don't move ahead. We've really got no choice here."
"We've got to have a little courage and get going with this," Coun. Sonja Lebans added.
Coun. Raj Kahlon said he wanted to see details of the bids submitted by some of the other companies that wanted to do the work.
"I'm just totally amazed [the other bids aren't] in front of us and we're rubber-stamping this," Kahlon said.
In total, 14 companies responded to the request for proposals (RFP). The RFP closed the Friday before the meeting (Sept. 3). Economic Development Officer Lee Malleau, Recreation, Parks and Tourism Director Bob Kusch and Dan McCrae of Community Futures evaluated the submissions. They finished their evaluation process in time for council to consider their recommendation at the council meeting on Tuesday.
"The project is going to have positive impacts for generations to come," said Kahlon in a show of support after first speaking critically of the process used to chose what Sutherland called the district's "dance partner" in the project.
"From a detailed evaluation process based on the allocation of points for both mandatory and desired criteria (as described in the RFP document), the selection team are making a clear and unanimous recommendation to Council that Iredale Group be selected as the final design team for the project," wrote Malleau and Kusch in a report to council. "Iredale Group from Vancouver submitted a superior proposal, and was the only consulting team to meet the challenges of required methodology, timeline and budget of $2.1 million. They also made the strongest commitment to the utilization of local goods and services."
The proposed Adventure Centre is to be 743 square metres (8,000 square feet) in size. According to the SICEAI submission created by the District, the building will feature distinctive and appealing West Coast architectural design with local materials like Douglas fir timbers, Western Red Cedar, hemlock and granite masonry.
When council finished discussing the issue, they decided to go with Iredale by a vote of six to one with Lonsdale opposed.
"The successful bidder has been contacted and now work begins," said Sutherland. "In the next couple of weeks a contract will be finalized with the designer and builder. We're going to move forward quickly. They're available to start the project right away."
According to Sutherland, construction will begin this fall.
