Paradise hires third party to oversee firm redesigning town hall

By Mark Squibb

Paradise council has awarded a contract for oversight of the demolition, redesign, and reconstruction of the Town Hall to real estate development and management company Colliers Canada for $30,000.

The contract comes on the heels of council awarding a contract to provide the electrical and mechanical engineering design, drawings and cost estimate to restore the Town Hall to BELFOR Property Restoration at a cost of $86,250 HST included.

Colliers will essentially act as the Town’s eyes and ensure BELFOR is kept on schedule.
The actual tender to reconstruct the building has yet to be awarded.

“The Town requires project management services to coordinate between the contractor, subcontractor, consultants, and insurer, ensuing there is a smooth project progression,” said Deputy Mayor Kimberley Street, who brought forward a motion to approve the contract during the December 2 public meeting. “This structural approach is essential to ensure the successful and timely rehabilitation of the municipal facilities, safeguard public services, and restore normal operations for residents and staff.”

Rather than call tenders on its own, the Town issued a request for tenders through Canoe Procurement, a system specifically for municipalities, the public sector, and not-for-profit groups that provides bids from suppliers throughout the country.

“There’s savings in this, and this arrangement saves staff time, leverages national buying powers, and provides access to vetted suppliers,” said Street.

Staff recommended council hire Colliers, through Canoe, for project coordination, oversight, and schedule management, at a proposed fee of $30,000, excluding disbursements and taxes.

The cost may be partially covered by the Town’s insurance provider.

“A project this size, I can’t imagine not having a project lead,” said Street. “To make sure things are moving along, and to have someone there managing it, I think is really important for this project.”

Mayor Patrick Martin concurred.

“I think it’s very important that we have someone here dedicated to this,” said Martin. “I’m so happy to see this on the agenda.”

Councillor Jennifer Hiscock said many residents likely underestimate the amount of damage the February fire caused, pointing out information about the damage is available on the Town’s website.

“We need to have these people helping out with this project, because it is very big,” said Hiscock. “If you read the website, you can see that information. I definitely support this.”

Councillor Sheldon Antle said he “100-percent” echoed Hiscock’s statement.

“The building looks brand new, but inside it’s literally a shell of itself,” said Antle. “Using buying groups and doing an efficient procurement process and having a project management team on top of that is sound use of our dollars. We certainly understand the need and the time sensitivity of it, so I’m certainly happy to support this.”

Councillor Glen Carew noted there was a lot of work to be done.

“As councillor Antle alluded to, it is a hollow shell inside of that building,” said Carew. “There is going to be a lot of work to rebuild it.”

Council will be provided with a “management log” of sorts once Colliers begins overseeing the project.