Big thank you
Victoria Foundation knows the value of volunteers Page A3
NEWS: Unsightly property bylaw has more bite /A5 COMMUNITY: Esquimalt gears up for Family Day /A10 SPORTS: Royals bounce back against Kamloops /A15
VICTORIANEWS VICTORIA Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Proudly serving Esquimalt & Victoria
EFFORT = CONCRETE RESULTS Locally Owned and Operated
• Ready-Mixed Concrete • Victoria’s Only Liquid Colouring System
• Concrete Accessories • Gravity Wall Blocks • Gravel Mart
250-478-0555 765 Industrial Way Open Mon-Sat
www.iconcrete.ca
www.vicnews.com
ON S HAKY GR O U N D Earthquake experts says Victoria is overdue due for a ‘megaquake.’ The only question is: when it will strike? Page A18
A bridge too far? Perhaps says city councillor Andrea Peacock Victoria News
More money and more time are on the agenda for the Johnson Street Bridge project yet again. One Victoria councillor wonders if that time and money would be better spent on refurbishing the existing bridge. “What magnitude of cost overruns will the council be prepared to accept? Because there’s going to be a price point where refurbishment may actually be a viable option,”
said Coun. Ben Isitt. “If we start getting into a discussion of the tens of millions of dollars, at some point, taking a look at refurbishing the asset we have might be a financially responsible option.” Mayor Lisa Helps, other councillors and project manager Jonathan Huggett, disagreed, saying the project is much too far along at this point to abandon it. “We are, like it or not, a significant way down the road,” said Huggett. “We have a contract with PCL and we have a contract with MMM, and we are not wanting to break
any of those contracts, because there would be significant consequences. We have no grounds to break contracts right now.” Isitt questioned whether continuing to increase the budget is a good idea. “It is very far along, and I think the preferred option is to complete the project within the available budget, but what I’m hearing from our staff is that there’s not enough room in the budget.” The original contingency budget for the bridge was $2.4 million, four per cent of the total project.
Staff brought a recommendation to council on Thursday for councillors to consider increasing the contingency budget, which Helps said she thought was too little all along. “I’m sure the original contingency budget wasn’t high enough, and that was one of my main reasons initially for voting against the contract,” she said. “But I’m also not interested in looking backward.” PLEASE SEE: Project must go ahead, Page A3
For all your tire and automotive needs, see the experts at
WWW.SIDNEYTIRE.COM
VICTORIA 250-386-6367
SIDNEY 250-656-5544
PARKSVILLE 250-248-2055