Councillors here remain committed to getting the best value for their money at the Puslinch community Centre.
On May 16, councillors reviewed draft drawings for a proposed replacement of washrooms in the facility – and keeping within budget. One of the ideas was to include additional space to address storage shortages in the building, too.
Councillor Wayne Stokley said at that point there had been two meetings with the architect to consider a number of concepts.
The first had the smallest square footage and was closest to the $201,000 originally allotted – but without a proposed storage area.
In each proposal, however, the storage area was a long narrow room with access a single interior door leading into the area of the current washroom.
Stokley said the area could be used to store linen and a lot of items in the community centre that are currently stored “where they should not be stored.”
Once renovations are complete, that part of the building would be converted to a storage area, he said. But a lot of it would be filled with tables and chairs also now stored elsewhere in the building.
One of the reasons behind the work is to for handicapped accessible washrooms.
Options at council include providing access in the men’s and women’s washrooms, or one accessible family washroom.
Stokley said providing a family washroom would fit with county requirements which, in turn, would let Puslinch access a $10,000 accessibility grant. To get the grant, the project price would have increased to $271,000 – roughly $70,000 over what was first considered. He said there is no savings with a family washroom.
Councillor Susan Fielding had concerns with proposed storage space being long and narrow, which could limit its usefulness.
She said quite a bit of space would be used up in an aisle.
She supports the proposal that includes a county compliant washroom but only has a cost of $229,0000.
Councillor Jerry Schmidt had a number of questions.
One centred on the decreased number of urinals in the men’s washroom – from four to three. He said when the facility was built 30 years ago, it was to the standards of the time.
It was noted later that while it is true one of the urinals appeared to be dropped from the plan, there was the addition of a another washroom stall.
Schmidt’s said the wheelchair accessible stall in near the entrance of each of the washrooms. It would block access to the rest of the washroom.
His other concern is there are no washing facilities in either handicapped washrooms which means people would have to use one of the existing sinks which would need height adjustments.
During that time, access in or out of the washroom would be blocked when the individual was in front of the sink, Schmidt said. “If we are going to spend a substantial amount of money, I would like to think we’d like to have something we can consider an upgrade rather than just an accommodation of handicapped access – which of course we do need.”
He, too, is concerned with the narrow storage space with only one access.
“My first question was, how useful would that really be for the additional cost of $30,000?”
He said the current budget includes $120,000 for storage and $20,000 for accessibility.
Schmidt said a lot of the projected cost is tied up in accessibility. Even with money currently in the budget, the amount is far short of projected costs.
Schmidt disagrees with the proposed costs. He suggested estimates as presented are running between $275 to $300 per square foot.
“Those numbers are ridiculous,” he said.
He was not opposed to spending additional money for an improved facility. “But if we’re going to do something, for God’s sake, let’s do it right.”
Councillor Ken Roth agreed.
“I certainly don’t like the prices I’ve seen today.” He believes added storage behind the washrooms is too costly.
Roth said the storage space created through the conversion of the old washrooms will still be more than what the centre currently has. “I just can believe these prices and the square footage price. I guess until it goes in to tender we won’t know for sure.”
He said in building a home, costs can be up to $150 per square foot, “but here the costs have worked out to … It’s ridiculous.”
He believes council should stick to its guns with the original $200,000 price.
Stokley said of the options, they were presented by the architect. “I do understand the concern the washrooms might not have the same amenities as the current ones, but we are still upgrading to meet the capacity of the hall.”
Stokley agreed the addition is expensive.
“It’s a lot more than we were originally willing to pay. But if you look age of the community centre and the upgrades needed to bring it into the next phase and to utilize it properly, we will be able to use the community centre more effectively.”
Fielding said the issue has been on council’s radar for some time. “They, too, were floored at the costs, and it was put onto the back burner for a while.”
She was concerned at council’s reaction to the estimates. “It seems things are coming in a lot higher than we anticipate.”
She said the architect is experienced. “I think prices are prices. It costs a lot of money.”
Fielding said council can hedge on moving forward if the money isn’t there. “But it is realistic to expect this is going to be an expensive project.”
She said, “When it comes to the washroom upgrades, the writing is on the wall.”
Fielding said upgrades are needed.
Mayor Dennis Lever admitted his original preference was for the option that was over 1,000 square feet – until he saw the price. “When the price came in at $270,000, I was pretty floored. It was pointed out that originally we had $120,000 in the budget, but we agreed to find an additional $80,000.”
To add an extra $70,000 was a bit much, he said.
He had concerns about the shape of the storage room, which seemed to him an attempt to square off the building. Removing that storage space would bring the project closer to the original $200,000 proposal.
He said council hoped the project would be further ahead at this point, “but there are still a lot of issues we are not 100% sure that we’ve addressed.”
Lever said the municipality is past the opportune time to get the best prices for tendering this year.
Council will hold a special meeting on, June 6 at 9am to discuss the addition again.
