Go ahead

Picton Library expansion project will go to tender

After the Save Picton Town Hall group was granted approval to take over the hall earlier in the week, members of the Prince Edward County Libraries board were at Committee of the Whole on Thursday to give an update on its plans and progress for the Picton Library expansion project, which is estimated to cost slightly over $2 million.

Board members, including CEO Barb Sweet, Fundraising Committee Chair Alexandra Bake, CEO of the board Board Devon Jones and Architect Brian Clark, informed council of the various needs they will be addressing with the expansion, which includes extra space for staff and visitors, better accessibility, more washrooms to meet building requirements, additional meeting rooms, a music studio and study area. The current building sits at roughly 6,000 square feet, and the expansion project would see that space double.

The board’s fundraising committee has raised just over $1.5 million of their budget as of the middle of February, which includes $326,000 in donations from the community. Council had also committed $320,000 to the project through the municipality’s capital sustainability reserve. The board is confident it can raise the remaining $450,000 required to meet the cost of the project.

Many councillors expressed concern during the meeting over the tight budget and how the costs will come back if the group goes to tender.

Councillor Ernie Margetson was worried about the additional operating costs, which hadn’t been included in the presentation. “It’s an ambitious project with a big budget. My experience with buildings is that it’s more complicated when they are bigger. I want to make sure this is manageable for the municipality.”

Councillor Phil St. Jean reminded council that they had to be cognizant about duplicating services in Picton, noting that the Armoury is currently under renovation and will be offering rentable space.

Councillor Bill Roberts wanted to know if the board is committed to making this project a County-wide initiative and not just focused on Picton. CEO of the board Devon Jones assured council that the library will service the entire County. “There are six branches, and 50 per cent of the activity runs through the Picton branch. Julie goes out to schools all over the County. She’s been to both public schools at the elementary and high school level, and she’s been to some of the private schools and takes the 3D printer with her. No, it is not Picton-centric at all,” said Jones.

Stewart Bailey wanted to know how long it would take for material from the tendering process to come back in front of council. “If we go to tender in April, we have 30 days before we get the tender back and we will make a decision on the price. Receiving the tenders doesn’t commit you to proceeding at all. All we want to do is to proceed to make sure we have enough money to build this thing,” said Brian Clark.

Due to the some of the missing information in the presentation, Councillor Jamie Forrester asked CAO James Hepburn if council should feel comfortable with allowing the board to go forward with the tendering process.

Hepburn acknowledged that he had wanted to see a more detailed presentation. “I wanted council to get a better understanding of the potential construction costs. I had asked for additional information on increased operating costs which they provided the utility portion, but I agree there are potentially other costs that should be looked at.” Hepburn also noted that he worried about going forward with the tender and then finding out after the fact that there was a large funding gap for the project. “At that point we are going to be forced with trying to let a tender with a specified time frame and there may be other questions, so I was just trying to do some more advanced work.”

But ultimately, Hepburn explained that he was comfortable going ahead. “I feel comfortable with you proceeding. The whole intent of this was to confirm that with the $800,000 of additional costs that were included in the 2019 budget, that we would be satisfied by the presentation.”

Mayor Steve Ferguson explained that in order to get a better idea of numbers, the project would have to go to tender. “I’m uncomfortable with the approximations that have been used. We don’t have at this point any obligation in terms of committing to anything, and we won’t until we understand fully what the hard numbers are,” said Ferguson.

If the tender comes back and is approved, construction would take approximately 14 to 16 months, with the aim of having the expansion completed by the end of 2020.