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Another year is upon us and council and staff will have met this past
Saturday in an all day retreat to talk about the goals and priorities for
the coming year. I’m sure everyone has heard that Mt. Mackenzie Resort
Ltd. (MMRL) and Revelstoke Alpine Village Inc. (RAVI) have completed and
submitted to us and the province, the master plan that could eventually
see the development of our hill and town into a destination ski resort.
There will be lots of meetings between now and final approval.
The ground breaking and
excavation of the aquatic centre has raised some questions as to why we
are starting now. There are several answers to that. First is the size and
duration of this project means that there will be construction in winter,
either at the start or at the finish. By starting earlier in the winter we
know there will be additional costs but they are associated with the minor
components of the project. The costs associated with finishing the project
in the winter will greatly exceed these extra startup costs. The majority
of the concrete work for this winter is minimal, primarily foundations.
The pouring of the pool will not be ready until the end of February and
from then on, spring will be upon us and the project will be going strong.
The industry looks like it
is entering a period of inflation the sooner we start and commit to
contracts and materials the better the prices should be.
From the very start of this
project we decided the priorities for this pool should be
1. Form and Functionality:
does the design and features meet the needs of the community.
2. Budget: we have a
mandate from the community to borrow up to 3.5 million. We are working
towards giving the community the biggest bang for it’s buck
3. Timeframe: The longer it
takes to build the more it will cost but this priority is third in line
behind form/functionality and budget.
I would hope the community
realizes that between council, staff, and our construction management
team, we are spending a lot of time and effort to deliver to the community
a first class aquatic centre that the community can be proud of, quality
built, delivered on time and on budget.
Mark McKee
Mayor
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