An ad hoc committee of council will be formed to come up with an ‘affordable’ way forward when it comes to a new community and recreation centre in North Bay.
Council held a special committee meeting Tuesday night about the proposed project.
This after a staff report said the tender process resulted in the project coming in ‘significantly’ higher than the $52 million estimate.
“We need to come up with a dollar amount we can afford that we’re all comfortable with,” says Councillor Lana Mitchell, chair of Infrastructure and Operations. “We have no choice but to build an arena. I could throw up at the thought of $71 million. That’s beyond a lot of money.”
Mitchell also says no one can convince them the price will go down.
“We obviously have to bite the bullet and make the decision. Will it be the perfect arena that meets every single want and desire we all have? No,” she says. “It doesn’t mean [components] can’t be added in the future but they’re not going to be happening right now. We need to look at the core needs of what we need. We need to look at accessibility. That’s a huge issue in this community when it comes to our arenas.”
Issues discussed during the two-and-a-half-hour meeting on Tuesday ranged from financing the project and the potential impact on the tax levy, timelines with starting over, inflationary pressures on the cost and delays, and more.
Mitchell also says they have to do everything possible to keep the nearly $26 million in federal funding for a net zero project, noting the committee will have up to 30 days to report back.
“We have excellent support at the federal level and we need to make some decisions. We can’t drag this out,” she says. “We need to move forward quickly on it but in an informed and affordable way.”
A special meeting of council will be held on Friday to create the ad hoc committee.
