Quesnel City Council has unanimously approved the renovation and expansion of the RCMP Detachment building at a cost of $26,660,477.
The decision was made after a facility condition assessment and feasibility study was done on the current building on Carson Avenue.
Director of Community Services Jeff Norburn went over the results of that study at Tuesday night’s meeting…
“The facility condition assessment concluded that the 33 year old building is structurally sound and in reasonably good condition but that it no longer meets the space requirements and operational needs of the detachment. To address the shortage of space and overcrowding identified in the report the consultants recommended two options to expand the building.”
The report didn’t come as a surprise to Councillors as they recently toured the facility.
Councillor Laurey-Anne Roodenburg described what she saw.
“When you’ve got a space where four guys are sitting in there, they’re trying to do their reports. You know, if they move their chair to get up they’re actually banging into the next guy. That’s how tight some of these spaces are. And some of the other pieces of that building, the work spaces for staff are horrendous, so I have no issues moving forward with trying to create a building that will take care of the needs for the RCMP.”
Councillor Mitch Vik, also the Chair of the Financial Sustainability & Audit Committee, said the building was definitely challenging.
“It may have worked back then but times have changed, When it comes to the personnel safety and the overall efficiencies of that building it’s just not practical any longer, and I know as we move into the future we will probably get more resources to help us in our community and we’re just not equipped.”
The renovation/expansion option that was selected would involve expanding the second floor with an addition above the existing cell block and the construction of a new administration corridor on the first floor.
That would add 553 square meters of space.
The other option, with a price tag north of 37 million dollars, would have consisted of the construction of a second level addition on the south side of the building over the parking lot.
That would be a total expansion of 1,405 square meters.
The consultants also price out a brand new building that came in at more than 54 million dollars, and that total didn’t include the potential purchase of property.
Getting back to the cost of option 1, the city would currently be on the hook for 58 percent of that total which would amount to a tax increase of 4.4 percent per year if it was borrowed over 30 years.
That’s if other funding can’t be secured.
Council has given staff the green light to enter into discussions with the provincial RCMP to secure a commitment for that portion of the funding for the project.
Director Norburn noted that this was just the first step in the process.
“Additional reports and information will be provided by staff at various stages of the project as needed with the expectation that as the project proceeds there will be a need for additional design development, updated cost estimates, consideration of funding options, discussion of communication plans related to a potential referendum, as well as other matters.”
Any debt over five years requires electoral approval, either through a referendum or the reverse petition process.
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