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Costs rise on library construction, council approves $7.5 million building

The site of the $10 million joint library/museum project has turned into the site of a $7.5 million library building, which is to be fully funded by the municipality.

The site of the $10 million joint library/museum project has turned into the site of a $7.5 million library building, which is to be fully funded by the municipality.

Plans for a new museum building have yet to come before council but a 5-2 vote on Monday night gave the green light to develop plans for a new library facility.

In the current Five Year Financial Plan (2003-2008), the municipality budgeted $5.28 million for the construction of the library.

Now rising construction costs and a $1.6 million underground parking lot have pushed up the cost of building the library by more than $2.2 million.

Municipal staff will now continue planning for the new library on the site of the current library (Lots 20 and 21).

The $7.5 million library includes $5 million for the library, $294,000 for library retail/coffee shop and $1.6 for an underground parking lot.

"I think it's well past time to get on with it," said a passionate Councillor Gordon McKeever after listening to arguments to delay the decision from Councillors Marianne Wade and Kristi Wells.

McKeever said the money that the community has saved over the years by providing the community with a shoddy library facility, more than makes up for the current cost.

But Wade and Wells expressed concerns about the new plans.

"I want to know how we're going to pay for it and operate it before we make that decision," said Wade after Monday's meeting.

She quizzed RMOW Parks Planner Martin Pardoe on the library budget after he presented the report to council.

Figures in the report point to soft costs of 21 per cent. Those soft costs include consultation fees, legal fees and architect fees. A tally of the soft costs in the proposed budget is more than $1 million, said Wade.

"Twenty-one per cent is too high for soft costs," said Wade, adding that this percentage does not follow industry standards in her experience.

"The highest I've ever seen in the industry is 15 per cent."

Wade also raised concerns about the cost per square foot. With hard building costs totalling more than $4.8 million and total square footage at 14,447 the cost is $337 per square foot. That figure does not factor in the costs of the underground parking.

Wade said high-end concrete construction in the village should cost about $300 per square foot.

Wade wanted to see comparative prices before voting to move ahead with the project.

"I want to know how we're going to pay for it and operate it before we make that decision," said Wade.

"I'm all for getting the library up and going but it's all (about) due diligence.

"I think it's a pretty big decision for the community and when I was running for office it was definitely an issue for this community. It's only fair to the community to understand what those costs are."

Councillor Nick Davies said he was personally satisfied that all the due diligence has been done and voted to move ahead with the plans.

The municipality has been working on a joint library/museum building on that site for several years now.

"It's good to see us moving forward," said Councillor Ken Melamed, who also voted to move ahead with the current plans.

"This was supposed to be our millennium project and here we are in 2004."

The concept has changed dramatically in the past four years. Originally the municipality was going to put up $5 million for the joint project and a further $5 million was to be raised through fundraising efforts.

Those plans were scrapped last summer and a decision on the future of the library/museum was put off until after Olympic decision to see if any opportunities could result from the 2010 Games.

Councillor Kristi Wells explained to council on Monday that the Olympics has opened up opportunities to build a library on Lots 1 and 9 in Village North.

The municipality will be getting a $30 million cheque to develop that area with a Paralympic facility. A library could also go there she said.

The Olympics also presented opportunities to develop sponsorship deals or naming rights with corporations, which could help fund a new library.

The Olympics may also bring the resort new financial tools from the province, which could help with ongoing operational costs of a new library. The province has yet to grant the RMOW those financial tools.

"On those three key points, relative to the Olympics, I expected us to make some bigger decision around the library," she said after the meeting.

"I was really hoping to appeal to (council) on at least looking at the location right now because we are in the middle of looking at (the future of) Lot 1, Lot 9."

Wells wanted to delay a decision on the library until the municipality had confirmed the financial tools, had looked at the other site option and explored public/private partnerships.

Neither Wells nor Wade could convince their fellow councillors to delay a decision.

Pardoe explained that the underground parking lot, though it adds to the cost of the library, creates a flexible building platform for any future development. This will allow the municipality to add on to the building as needs and budgets warrant.

But the demand for the extra money is coming in a difficult year said Wells.

"Right now we are in one of our toughest budget years," she said.

"Our whole community is suffering right now economically and we don't know what the impact of that is."

The second thing to think about is that museum plans will be coming forward in the near future, also looking for a sizable financial commitment from the municipality.

"This is just one side of the facility," she said.

Now staff will also explore alternative resident housing strategies for the library site. This option had been dropped at an earlier date due to the expense.

Councillor Caroline Lamont said that a lot of the questions raised by Wells and Wade were answered sufficiently for her in a council workshop they could not attend.

She said: "There's a point where you have to make a step."