OLDS — Council has added an extra $60,000 to the town’s $13.6 million capital budget in case at least one project costs more than expected.
Finance director Sheena Linderman made that request during council’s Nov. 23 meeting, saying a contractor has warned that the town’s project to reline its north reservoir may end up costing beyond its current $500,000 budget.
In a later email, Linderman said if it's necessary to access that extra money, it will come from the town's utilities capital reserve.
“Through our RFP (request for proposals) process, the proposals that came in came in a bit higher than anticipated,” Linderman said during the council meeting.
“The one proposal that we have narrowed it down to is still within the $500,000 budget, but they are telling us that we should plan for a contingency, based on the video that they have seen of the reservoir.
“It is good practice to have a contingency in place for anything that arises during a project, so that is what the $60,000 today is for."
The north reservoir relining project was approved as part of the capital budget on April 27.
Coun. Mary Anne Overwater advanced a motion to approve the increase to the town’s 2020 capital budget, which will now total $13,680,466.
Overwater chairs the Mountain View Waste Commission.
She said during a meeting that morning, members of that body were also warned that projects could end up costing far more than anticipated.
“According to our CAO, a lot of the contractors are saying you know, ‘get your RFPs in, get your inquiries in, because there’s so much money that’s coming out from the feds and the provincial (government) regarding projects that the costs are going to be even higher,” Overwater said.
“So this is good that we’re going to be putting more in there because who knows? It could even be double that.”
“Good comment,” Town of Olds Mayor Michael Muzychka said.
The motion to approve the increase to the capital budget was passed.
