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Friday, January 29, 2016
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VETERANS HONOURED
RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff
JENNIFER SMITH/MORNING STAR
Ed Callus (left) and Joe Monteyne are applauded by Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster, Vernon Mayor Akbal Mund and the crowd after being presented with the Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour, the highest national order of France, at the Orchard Valley retirement home Tuesday.
City construction costs escalating RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff
Costs to replace water lines, roads and sidewalks are going through the roof in Vernon. A 2015 construction escalation report shows capital costs jumped about 6.5 per cent over 2014. “It’s actually scary when you look at where construction costs are going,” said Coun. Catherine Lord. The largest increases came with roads, concrete curbs, sidewalks and landscaping while there were modest hikes for waterworks. According to the report, $881,354 was spent on roads in 2015, a 12 per cent increase from $786,895 in 2014. Landscaping jumped 13.5 per cent from $29,329 to $33,274 while curbs and side-
— Catherine Lord
walks went up 8.7 per cent from $172,116 to $187,039. However, there was a 11.4 per cent decrease for sanitary sewer ($16,052 to $14,225) and a 2.8 per cent decrease for storm sewer ($177,883 to $172,939). While overall costs have risen, the city is putting more money aside for infrastructure. In 2015, the capital works budget grew
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“It’s actually scary when you look at where construction costs are going.”
by 17 per cent because of the 1.9 per cent cumulative infrastructure tax and increases to the Union of B.C. Municipalites’ gas tax fund. “While the funding increase offsets the construction cost increase, it is important to note that the construction cost increase calculation is based on a particular type of road and utility project,” said Chris Thompson, infrastructure management technician, in the report. “The calculation may not be relevant to other types of projects due to materials used, scale of the project or outside factors affecting construction materials. For example, road construction costs may see a reduction in 2016 due to global oil prices.” Staff will monitor construction costs and its potential impact on the city’s asset management program.
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The long-awaited day is almost here at Vernon Jubilee Hospital. On Sunday, patients will move to the new sixth and seventh floors of the Polson tower. “The move will begin at 8:30 a.m. and a patient will be moved from existing floors every three minutes,” said Richard Harding, administrator. “The move will be supported by a large group of volunteers and clinical staff as they transition to their new rooms.” There are 30 beds on each floor, with 14 of them new and the remainder coming from existing parts Richard Harding of the hospital. On the sixth floor, there will be 14 telemetry beds providing cardiac monitoring and 16 acute medical beds. The seventh floor will consist of rehabilitation beds for both rehab and stroke patients, while also supporting patients who no longer require acute care and are preparing to go home. Most of the rooms have single beds and the goal is to reduce incidents of infection among patients. “I’m optimistic this will help towards resolving several issues,” said Dr. Chris Cunningham, with medical staff. Physicians rallied residents a number of years ago to lobby government for the two floors to be completed. “This is the culmination of a lot of work in the region,” said Cunningham. Construction of the $30 million project began in early 2014 and officially wrapped up in December. “We’re right on track with the completion of staff hiring and orientation training and are in the final phase of logistic preparations for the floor move,” said Harding. With beds shifting over to the new floors in the Polson tower, the vacant wards in the Jubilee tower will largely be converted to semi-private rooms. The total bed count at VJH will now be 182.
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