Delaying some work at the West Nipissing Community and Recreation Centre is freeing up money to carry out work on two other projects in the municipality that face cost overruns.
Structural deficiencies were discovered at the Verner Municipal Building after the gymnasium was removed and structural engineers told the municipality those defects have to be addressed.
Looking after the deficiencies amounts to an extra $47,000 in work.
The second issue is rebuilding the lamp posts on Front Street in Sturgeon Falls.
Although a contract of $113,000 was awarded for the work, staff have budgeted for $150,000.
The reason for the built-in cost overrun is what issues the rebuilding project will uncover.
The lamp posts have to be encased in five feet of cement but staff point out in some cases the posts are contained in two feet of cement.
That means going deeper to maintain the five-foot threshold.
However, if the lamp post is situated over a water line, staff says it’s not the water line that’s going to be moved it’s the lamp post and building in a contingency of about $35,000 should cover that relocation expense.
The work for the lamp posts must be completed by next March under terms for which the municipality was awarded funds for the work.
Plans are also in play to preserve the cement slab the gym sat over at the Verner Municipal Building.
There’s agreement on council that spending money to repurpose the slab will give it many more years of use.