The city wants to renovate the administration building at Lakeview Cemetery, but the design costs associated with the project have some councillors heading for an early grave.
As ThoroldToday reported, cemetery support staff has been working out of the Thorold Community Arenas because the building at Lakeview Cemetery has issues ranging from black mold to asbestos.
To bring staff back to the cemetery, councillors already committed $60,000 to install a winterized trailer for one year.
Drawing up plans for the redesign of the the building could cost up to $83,000 — a price tag that not every councillor finds easy to stomach.
“I’m having an issue with this,” said Councillor Carmen DeRose during last week’s council meeting. “First we were told it was going to be $50,000 that we agreed to and now it’s up to $83,000.”
Councillor DeRose said that he recently visited the cemetery and found the building to be salvageable.
“The outside structure is in great condition and what I observed through the windows is that the building is fixable,” he told fellow councillors. “ I can see mold on wallpaper that was attached to brick. Once that wallpaper is removed it will expose brick which I think will enhance the beauty of the place. Is there anyway we can use that $83,000 to get the mold removed?”
Some councillors also wondered why the design duties were directly appointed without seeking bids first.
“I don’t believe it brings for a fair process in today’s business world,” said Councillor Jim Handley. “In the climate we have today, competitiveness is part of the process. My problem is with the tendering process.”
City Hall staff explained that it had opted to directly appoint design duties because councillors were adamant that the project move forward rather sooner than later.
“The whole idea of a direct appointment is to get someone who is familiar with the site,” said the city’s Director of Community Services Geoff Holman. “The intent is that by the end of March, the beginning of April, we’ll be well along the process so we can consider the capital cost at a reasonable period of time.”
And so, in spite of the financial concerns, councillors approved the design costs of the project.
“I think this is what we’ve been asking for four years,” said Councillor Ken Sentance. “This is what we need. Not trailers, not new buildings — we need this building to be good for our staff and our citizens to come out to.”
Once the redesign plans are drawn up, staff will return to city council with a figure for construction costs, which were previously estimated to be around $850,000.
