Fix the roads or build the plaza? City staff claim we can do both

In a report going to City Council next week, a senior city official specifically addresses arguments that millions of dollars earmarked for the new downtown plaza should instead be spent on fixing our obvious pothole problems.

"Staff acknowledges that one of the frequent comments related to the plaza is to utilize funds for additional roadwork," says Tom Vair, the city's deputy chief administrative officer for community development and enterprise services, in a report recommending up to $1.3 million in unallocated federal infrastructure funding be used to cover a budget overrun on the plaza project.

As SooToday reported on Friday, Vair wants the additional plaza cost to be paid from money provided to the city by the Canada Community Building Fund – a permanent source of federal funding provided twice a year to provinces and territories, who in turn direct the cash to municipalities to support local infrastructure priorities.

This would ensure the plaza could be built with no effect on the tax levy.

As for the Sault's ailing road infrastructure, Vair points out that the city has also received additional money to help with that:

• $2.2 million from the provincial government's Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund in 2022 (annually over the next five years)
• $400,000 from the Northern Ontario Resource Development Support Fund (annually over the next five years)
• $2.2 million in connecting link funding

"This is a total of $4.8 million in additional funding in 2022 for road infrastructure and an additional $2.6 million per year over the next five years," Vair argues.

Vair says recent negotiations with Avery Construction – low bidder on the plaza construction contract – have whittled $197,369 from the project cost.

The changes include:

• wood fencing instead of Omega metal fence
• roof deck alternative
• squared corners on bleachers
• electrical services adjustments
• lighting control system adjustments
• speaker system substitution

In his report to Mayor Provenzano and city councillors, Vair says the increase in the cost of building the plaza was not unexpected because similar increases are being experienced at other local construction sites.

"At the national level, StatsCan provided an update on Feb. 4 , 2022 with building construction price indexes for fourth-quarter 2021 which indicated building construction costs for residential construction in an 11-city composite rose 21.7 per cent year-over-year in the fourth quarter, surpassing the previous high registered in the third quarter," Vair reports.

"Non-residential construction building costs rose 11.2 per cent year-over-year in the fourth quarter, which was the largest increase since the third quarter of 2008."

Monday's City Council meeting will be live-streamed on SooToday starting at 4:30 p.m.