Sechelt is poised to ink a deal with consulting firm Deloitte LLP for a “post-project completion review” of the Water Resource Centre.
Council’s finance, culture and economic development committee recommended awarding the $125,000 contract to Deloitte at its Jan. 13 meeting. It was expected to get final approval at the Jan. 20 regular council meeting.
The review comes out of the recommendations from the Auditor General for Local Government’s April 2015 report on the District’s capital projects.
The AGLG suggested a review, “including an evaluation of construction, project management and costs in completing it, as well as risks, life cycle costs and its long term financial sustainability.”
The District also wanted the winning firm to “determine and investigate, to the extent practical, real or perceived conflict of interest existed associated with the project planning, procurement and construction,” in response to questions raised in the AGLG’s report about possible conflicts.
Interim corporate officer Gerry van der Wolf told the committee there’s only so far the consultants can take that. “All they could ever do is do similar to the AGLG and say it looks like it. The only person that could ever say definitively that there was a conflict of interest is a judge,” he said.
He also pointed out that only a majority vote of council or a petition from 10 qualified electors can trigger a judicial review.
Mayor Bruce Milne seemed satisfied with those limitations.
“If it [the Deloitte report] says something very similar to the Auditor General’s report, then council will have to deal with that. We’ll then have two independent sources saying ‘it looks like a duck’ and we’ll decide whether we want to go duck hunting,” he said.
Coun. Doug Wright, though, was not willing to support the contract and was the sole vote against at committee.
“I think we’re getting ready to spend a lot of money to find out something that we already know,” he said. “What benefit does the taxpayer of Sechelt get for $125,000? The wastewater plant is where it is. We’re not going to move it. We’re not going to disassemble it. The only thing we can do with the building is make it function, and pay for it, much to my chagrin.”
Coun. Darnelda Siegers also said she’s not happy about the cost, but thinks the post-completion review is necessary.
“There are questions out there, otherwise it wouldn’t have shown up in the AGLG report. This is actually to give peace of mind to the community, to give peace of mind to staff and to point out what are the things to watch for going forward,” she said. “I don’t like spending the money, I agree with Councillor Wright about that.”
The contract includes a 20 per cent contingency that could increase the final price tag to $150,000.
Coun. Alice Lutes described the review as an exercise in regaining trust. “It caused so much distrust and questions in the community,” Lutes told the committee. “Until that’s clear in our minds, [and for] the staff and the community, we’ll never feel comfortable going ahead with big projects.”
