Town Council have the latest numbers on the Ma-te-Way Expansion.
They learned at their Tuesday, January 17th meeting that the latest cost estimate for the project totals around $28.6 million, almost $8 million over the original estimate.
That was cause for multiple councilors, including Jason Legris, to push for a comprehensive review of what happened once the project is done near the end of June.
Councilor Kyle Cybulski suggests the project’s contractor, Buttcon, will need to explain where things went wrong, noting that according to the original budget for the project the town is being billed an extra $157,000 a week over what was originally agreed to.
CAO Rob Tremblay notes that there will be a full legal review of the contract the town entered into with Buttcon, and a motion from Councilor Legris to set up special closed session meetings with both Buttcon and N45 Architecture to get answers from their perspective on top of upcoming monthly committee updates was passed.
Mayor Tom Sidney says, as the driving force behind the project for the last several years, he’s as upset as anyone with how the construction at Ma-te-Way has gone.
However, he added that there’s a bigger picture to it than just what is being paid out.
Sidney added the numbers they were given at Tuesday’s meeting aren’t final, and their annual budget talks will give them a chance to cut costs or dip into reserves to help pay for Ma-te-Way.
(written by Kasey Egan)
