As work progresses on the exterior of the Shuswap Healing Centre, Sicamous council is looking ahead with the awarding of the interior contract, which is under budget at just over $2.4 million.
At the April 24 meeting, chief administrative officer Kelly Bennett presented a report on the fixed price contract with Scott Builders for $2,473,522 plus GST. Though it’s just shy of the $2,475,110 budgeted, Bennett added that she’ll still be working to cut that even more to accommodate possible changes down the road.
“Is everything sorted in the inside? No, but to a point where we can get a pretty locked-in price. Will there be some change orders? Yes, but we wanted to make sure that we were within the original proposed, budgeted amount,” she said of where the district is at.
“So, I haven’t entered into the contract yet, this will authorize me and I will be negotiating to see… if there are any areas where we can trim that down even further. But I feel very confident with the price and I’m happy where it has come in, because we’re asking for a lot in that inside.”
Once the contract is officially awarded, the contractor can lock in the sub-trades and finalize the schedule for interior construction, which is estimated to start in July or August. As confirmed previously, the majority of the sub-trades used will be companies from within the region.
With the exterior contract just over $6.3 million, this still puts the project just under the $10,000,215 originally budgeted, with a separate amount of $680,000 in the budget for furniture and equipment, which still has to be itemized.
Regarding the possibility of having solar panels installed on the roof in the future, Bennett received a quote of $38,000 to ensure the trusses would be able to bear the weight. She “green-lighted” it because time was a factor in getting the trusses ordered, and the amount can be covered by the $178,000 the district recently received from the Climate Action Fund.
“It just makes sense to have that option there,” Bennett added. “And then down the road when we get some other funding and green money for that addition; we’re setting it up so you can add that.”
Council approved the contract award unanimously.
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