Blind River council is going to have to dip into town coffers to do three separate projects in town.
Council voted to move money to cover above anticipated costs for repairs to the public works garage, redoing the library ramp to make the building easily accessible to all users and improvements to the well pump house.
The items were noted in reports to council at its meeting Monday evening from clerk administrator Kathryn Scott and treasurer Sue Dent.
The tenders on all three projects came in well over what was budgeted for the work.
Councillor Clifford Spratt said council had been “mislead” in the planning process for the three projects.
“There’s three things in a row we’ve been mislead on,” Spratt said of the three project costs, blaming engineering reports.
The treasurer said in her report on money needed for well pump house improvements fell short of what the town had anticipated for the work.
According to Dent, the town had budgeted $20,000 for the work, but the tender bids received ranged from $149,756 to $226,858.
“There are insufficient funds in the 2018 budget to cover this cost,” Dent said in her report.
She suggested moving a capital budget amount of $68,000 originally set for the greenhouse gas project at the arena to help cover some of the shortfall on the pump house project and take money from the federal gas tax reserve fund to make up the difference.
“We have accumulated over the last number of years a total of over $660,000 in gas tax funds that have been paid to the town that we have not spent,” Dent told council of the additional $61,000 needed.
Dent said when the project was originally considered only engineering costs were budgeted and not the project itself.
On the public works building council had budgeted $206,000 for the work to improve the building’s heating and drainage system, but the tender quotes received ranged from $377,000 to $537,279.
In her report Dent suggested additional funding for the project would have to be considered in 2019 budget to cover the $171,000 shortfall.
Councillor Jim Dunbar and Councillor Steve Wells asked what council would do if part of the cost for the work could not come from the 2019 budget. Dunbar also asked whether the shortfall could come out of the federal gas tax reserve.
“This project does not qualify for gas tax funding,” Dent said. “We would have to either tighten our belts somewhere else to find the funds or not do the project.”
Council agreed to accept the tender from Jobst Brothers Construction for $377,283 including HST. However, the town will have to contact the firm to see whether the price would remain the same if the work is done over two years.
On the library ramp improvements, council had a better situation with the work expected to be paid from provincial grant of $40,717 the town had received. However, a tender price for the work came in at $47,341.
Dent said the provincial grant was all that was allocated for the project and the higher cost was not anticipated.
The shortfall was resolved after the library board decided to transfer $22,000 to the town which “was included in their salary budget for 2018 that they do not require.”
It was not known when the library work will start.