The City of Yorkton’s Public Works Department is in the middle of a crisis. Their building is no longer habitable, and the 75 people on staff have to be relocated for safety reasons.
The problem with the current facility comes down to contamination. Environmental testing confirmed that the presence of petroleum-based hydrocarbons at the site. As a result, the city’s fleet staff has been relocated to a different property on Sixth Ave. North, while the administration staff is waiting for construction site trailers so they are can move out of the facility.
The solution, offered by Public Works, is to build a new facility, referred to as the City Operations Centre. This facility would combine the bulk of the city’s core services in one location, including water, sewer, drainage, curbs, sidewalks, roadways and streets, signs, traffic, fleet operations, inventory, facility maintenance, landfill, garbage collection and recycling, parks, horticulture, forestry, outdoor fields, cemetery and administration for all of these areas.
This project has been in the works since 2010, since the city’s building assessment indicated that the public works building was a priority for replacement. In his presentation to council, Trent Mandzuk, director of Public Works indicated that they have explored numerous alternate options suggested by council, and the proposed facility is the option that will fit the needs of the departments involved, and allow them to have cross department synergy.
However, the project is not having an easy ride through council. Questions of cost are already on the minds of city council, and the projected cost of the project, which could be in the neighborhood of $20 million, have some councillors wondering if the project is viable.
Because the project has been in the works for a long time, funds have been set aside for the build already, and the city can borrow up to $14 million without raising taxes.
One of the proposals for reducing the cost of the project was to take the Parks Department out of the plan. Mandzuk suggested this would be a bad idea, because their facility, which is going to be tested for air quality as well, also has hydrocarbon contamination. There is a risk they could be pushed out the same way as Public Works was. He also noted that adding the square footage to an existing build would add $1 million to the project, while building a separate building for the department would cost more.
Councillor Darcy Zaharia voted against sending the project to tender. While Councillor Mitch Hippsley voted for sending the project to tender, he indicated he could not support a building that would cost $20 million.
Mayor Bob Maloney, however, is adamant that the project needs to go ahead. The building, built in 1958, is no longer usable, and the air quality testing has proven that they can’t put it off any longer.
“We’ve done testing, employees should not be in that building. It’s the same situation we were in with the previous Agriplex and our fire hall, we got to a point where those buildings had to be replaced. And unfortunately it seems that councils of the day wait until something has to be replaced.”
The tripping point for council is the price, and Maloney understands that, and the cost has been the cause of the delays to the project. But Maloney said they can no longer wait.
“Those are the costs of building now, there are new building codes in place, and when you’re building new structures it’s expensive. I know council is seeing the sticker shock, and I don’t like these high prices either. But they’re buildings we need to replace, they’re buildings that will be there for the next 40-50 years, and our staff need to be in a safe work environment.”
Mandzuk, for his part, was clear that the current situation will not work for the department for very long. He said that without a new facility, it’s impossible for them to maintain the same level of service that they have.
With one vote against, the project has been sent to tender, and will be tendered in January of 2020.
