Soil issues have dug deeply into the budget for the new Hillsburgh fire hall.
Erin Fire Chief Dan Callaghan was at a recent committee meeting to explain why. The original cost was estimated at $2.1 million.
Callaghan said as work began on the first stage of the fire station in August 2010, there was soil testing done. The idea was to find out what is beneath the surface west of the station.
There were three test pits dug with the help of the Erin works department, Callaghan said. The work was supervised by CMT Engineering.
“We thought we had found virgin ground on two of the three test pits,” Callaghan said.
The third pit, near the well, had an anticipated depth of 12 feet. However, in two of the three test pits, there were false readings. He explained virgin ground is essentially soil that had not been covered with other material.
“When we started construction we found silt materials [down to almost 10 feet] which had to be removed prior to construction,” Callaghan said.
When the bill came in, there was a dispute with the excavator, based on what was originally anticipated to be removed as compared to the soil samples and “what was reasonably expected to be an extra,” he added.
More information was slated to come to council’s May 1 meeting by architect Joe Somfay regarding the cost overruns and by finance director Sharon Marshall on costs to date.
Callaghan said there is a lot of debate on how best to deal with the costs. Originally, the fire hall proposal came with $110,000 in the budget for contingency costs and $60,000 for hydro poles.
Among the various changes was a requirement for the hall to provide a barrier-free shower.
“The whole handicap washroom had to be made into a shower to provide that access,” Callaghan said.
The current location of hydro, Rogers and Bell telephone lines are a problem because the finished ground level will be coming up, Callaghan said. As a result, those lines are being placed underground in front of the station, he said.
Callaghan said Somfay would be at council to talk about how the contingency fund would be spent, in addition to discussing cost overruns. He then started going in to a line-by-line addressing of each portion of the project.
“We’re playing a shell game with some of the money right now to pay for the extra soil costs,” he said.
Councillor Barb Tocher compared it to robbing Peter to pay Paul.
“Something council needs to be aware of is that more test bores were dug inside and around the old station,” Callaghan said.
He added the next phase of the project is going to face exactly the same soil issues. “They built the station on top of topsoil. Instead of removing it, they built right on top.”
Callaghan said, “As far as the building goes, if you didn’t have the soil problem, we’d be totally within budget.”
Because of that issue, there will be a resolution for council to approve additional spending. He added work is being done to get an estimate of the cost to remove soil from where the old station is located.
Mayor Lou Maieron said it looks like the town is facing exactly the same soil issues for the next phase of the project. He asked how much over budget the project will be.
Callaghan said exact figures would be available by the next council meeting.
Maieron said it seems the architect is saying some of the cost should have been expected while the builder is suggesting the amount should not be that high.
Tocher suggested it might be simpler to take all the dirt out from the site. She then asked if the cost overrun is $250,000 to $300,000 more than originally anticipated.
“I’m not going to give you an estimate because I don’t know,” Callaghan said.
However, he agreed $250,000 might be a fair estimate. He said the issue has gone on since last fall and the contractor had not been paid.
It has finally come to a conclusion, Callaghan said, but the soil issue is yet to be addressed and because of that the building has been delayed.
