Councillors approved the preliminary design for a new operations centre on Aug. 9 and residents of Sechelt will have their say by way of a referendum or alternate approval process before building gets underway.
The new operations centre is meant to house the public works and parks staff and equipment that have been displaced since the tearing down of the old public works yard when the new sewage treatment centre was built in 2013.
At that time, workers and equipment were moved into temporary structures on Lot L, which is owned by the district and abuts Dusty Road.
Staff has been working on a design for a new building for several months and councillors had a look at the completed version at their Aug. 9 finance, culture and economic development committee meeting.
The design boasts a large drive-through bay for public works, two work bays for parks, a dedicated sign-making area, a workshop, office space, a training area, two lunchrooms and a green roof fitted with solar panels and skylights.
The total building area is estimated at 2,685 square metres.
When asked about the cost, Darwyn Kutney, director of engineering and operations, said it would take some time to come up with a price tag.
“Once we do have approval to proceed with the structure, we do have a lot of work that needs to be done,” Kutney said.
“We have to go through the development permit process and again it will be coming back to council. The design might change. While that’s going on we have to find mechanical and structural engineers to start working on the structure so we can start getting design-ready and construction-ready drawings. From there we’ll proceed with a cost estimate, and that’s going to be, of course, the whole building, servicing of the site, landscaping, all of that.”
While Kutney wasn’t willing to hazard a guess at the cost of the new building it will definitely require borrowing of more than $500,000, which results in the need to go to the electorate of Sechelt for approval.
That electorate approval will be sought either by way of a referendum or alternate approval process.
Council was content with the plan presented but concerned about the possible price tag.
“Hopefully the costing won’t shake us up so much that we eliminate the entire office space and lunchrooms,” Mayor Bruce Milne said, noting design changes may be needed to keep costs reasonable.
“That’s what will happen if the costing comes in too high.”
