Another park upgrade in Coquitlam is going over budget.
Improvements to Victoria Park in northeast Coquitlam — including a new artificial turf soccer field, a bigger grass playing area, a central plaza and playground — were expected to come in at $1.7 million.
But a tight construction market and a shortage of labour mixed with a falling Canadian dollars mean staff now expect the final price tag to hit $1.95 million, or $250,000 more than had been projected.
“Labour shortages have increased costs and have prevented contractors specializing in park construction from expanding in order to meet increased demand,” said a city staff report. “As there are only a relatively small number of contractors in the marketplace specializing in park construction, these contractors are finding it challenging to keep up with demand.”
Victoria Park is not the first Coquitlam park project to go over budget in May.
Council recently approved an additional $500,000 for amphitheatre currently under construction in Town Centre Park, bringing its total cost to $3.2 million; it also approved an additional $485,000 in funding for work at Rochester Park, for a total of $4.84 million. As well, the cost of Smiling Creek Park doubled after it went out for tender, increasing from an originally estimated $1.4 million to $2.8 million.
“We did not anticipate the flurry of activity in the construction market right now,” said the city’s manager of strategic initiatives, Perry Staniscia, at the time of the first announced overruns. “This is just such a specialized market… There is a limited supply of contractors and they are all extremely busy.”
As a result, staff said some changes have been implemented to ensure that estimates more accurately reflect current market conditions. New escalation contingencies have been adopted and the city will now use a quantity surveyor to ensure that product pricing is accurate.
James Clarke, the city’s manager of capital construction, also noted that the city is constantly trying to expand the number of companies it does business with in order to get the best value.
“We are always looking to expand the pool of contractors we have pricing our work,” he said. “We know that is the way to get the most competitive pricing.”
During Monday’s meeting, council briefly debated scaling back the work at Victoria Park and potentially removing a skate park as a feature in the plans.
But several councillors said the park work had already been delayed and that adding features to the plans would only get more expensive in the future.
In the end, council voted in favour of authorizing another $250,000 for the project, with Mayor Richard Stewart and councillors Chris Wilson and Bonita Zarrillo voting against the expenditure and councillors Brent Asmundson, Dennis Marsden, Mae Reid and Teri Towner voting in favour.
MOUNTAIN VIEW PARK UPGRADES
Mountain View Park in Burquitlam will get an upgrade.
Council voted unanimously Monday in favour of spending $1.4 million to replace Hartley Field, which is located at the park, while adding some extra amenities on the west side of the site. Upgrades to the natural grass field, improved dugouts and bleacher seating, and new backstops are all included in the plan; pathway upgrades are also being considered.
Staff is also considering changes to a playground area, which could include a new picnic shelter, picnic tables and some outdoor exercise equipment.
@gmckennaTC
