When the chairman of the Wellington County information, heritage and seniors committee presented his report on June 30, he was expecting a lot of hard questions.
Instead, county council heard Mark MacKenzie’s report and approved it – without any questions at all.
MacKenzie said later in an interview he was somewhat surprised because the original cost of the Harriston library expansion was $1.5-million and the tender recommendation to do the work was $2.36-million. It was approved when council accepted the report.
MacKenzie had told councillors in his presentation the floor space at the library was one-third more than what the county had done previously when it renovated the Mount Forest and Elora libraries.
He said in an interview a presentation by architect Lloyd Grisham at the previous council meeting might have helped councillors understand the huge increase from the original budget. That included buying some land adjacent to the building and also providing some space upstairs for Minto’s Arts Council and Historical Society.
The contract was let to Dakon Construction Ltd., of Waterloo, and did not include the HST. The recommendation also told the county treasurer to transfer $900,000 from the property reserve fund to help pay for the work, and it also added the expansion project to the county’s 2011 background study for development charges.
MacKenzie said in an interview on Monday, “I couldn’t believe it. I was pretty nervous.”
He added he was unhappy with the process for the expansion, and at the end of the meeting he introduced two notices of motion in order to give committees more control over how contracts are let.
Those motions are:
– that all future construction design committees established by the council of the County of Wellington be provided with their mandate and responsibilities before they commence their first meeting; and
– that all construction projects considered by the council of the County of Wellington that have design changes with budget increases be presented at the appropriate committee(s) for consideration before being forwarded to council for approval.
MacKenzie said the Harriston project has been on council’s radar for “a long time. Over four years, things change.”
He added the Harriston building itself was much larger than the Mount Forest or Elora projects.
MacKenzie said of his notices of motion, “I don’t know if the design committee should be involved in finance.”
He said of the work itself, “It was a positive project. We just need to know our role.”
He explained the design committee had three meetings, but, “The design committee didn’t have any numbers.”
So it approved design changes without knowing what those changes might cost. MacKenzie said his committee was unhappy with that situation.
“There was a lot of discussion at the committee over process. Committee members did understand what their role is” – but he added they were reluctant to point fingers at those making financing decisions.
As well, over those four years, the members on the committee changed, and some were only recently appointed after the past elections.
MacKenzie said each design change was presented to the committee, and the final recommendations were sent to council, but the committee did not know what the final costs would be.
“We need to know that,” he said.
He also added that after he presented his two notices of motion, which will be considered at the next county council meeting, “two or three” councillors told him they understood why he was introducing them.
He said it is simply to ensure there is “a clear role for the committee.”
