Some West Kelowna councillors are criticizing former senior staff for what they describe as poor decisions regarding the new city hall.
乌鸦传媒淭ime to talk about the elephant in the room, as far as I乌鸦传媒檓 concerned,乌鸦传媒� Councillor Rick de Jong said during budget deliberations on Dec. 19. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e sitting in a beautiful new city hall, and yet we乌鸦传媒檙e looking at a brand new building that乌鸦传媒檚 going to require $195,000 in additional costs over and above the budget.乌鸦传媒�
According to budget documents, $115,000 of the additional costs will go toward acoustic improvements in the council chambers, and $85,000 will be used to design parking lot upgrades and expansion. Those who have attended council meetings are familiar with the severe echo in the chamber, which makes it difficult to hear what council and staff are saying.
乌鸦传媒淭hen to hear today that the library has the acoustics that this room needs,乌鸦传媒� de Jong added. 乌鸦传媒淐learly, they thought about it. Why didn乌鸦传媒檛 we?乌鸦传媒�
The Okanagan Regional Library, which partnered with the city on the building, owns the portion of the building downstairs from the council chambers. De Jong expressed frustration that the former senior staff members responsible for the city hall decisions are no longer available to answer the council乌鸦传媒檚 questions.
乌鸦传媒淚n my mind, this is a good example of a lot of lessons that need to be learned and what can be done differently on projects of this nature moving forward,乌鸦传媒� he said.
Councillor Stephen Johnston also felt council had been excluded from important discussions with the former senior management. 乌鸦传媒淚t is frustrating,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭his whole project, throughout.乌鸦传媒�
Council approved the expenditures. The acoustic upgrades and parking lot expansion design will be funded through the city乌鸦传媒檚 capital reserves.
Originally budgeted at $18 million, the new city hall, which opened in May, came in well over budget at $22.79 million. Construction delays and supply disruptions caused the project to be stretched out over several months.
Council is expected to wrap up budget deliberations today.
