City of Powell River Council has approved a budgetary increase of $134,487 to replace the outer surface siding of Powell River Public Library.
At the August 21 council meeting, acting director of infrastructure Rod Fraser reported on the project, with the increase in budget to be funded through the Powell River Community Forest reserve fund.
Fraser said the library stucco and stone cladding replacement project will replace problems with the existing veneer. He said there have been barricades around certain portions of the library where the veneer has been failing.
“We put together a request for proposals recently and we ended up getting two bids,” said Fraser. “Both were over the existing budget. The proposals were received on July 11 and the low bid was $270,000.
“The bidding contractors were reviewed and references were checked. We found favourable references for the recommended bidder, which is Sioux Projects, out of Vancouver, which is an Indigenous-owned company.”
Fraser said the project covers replacing the existing façade with a hardy-plank product, which will be painted. Any failure support areas will be replaced, he added.
Fraser said should city council approve the bid, Sioux Projects is ready to launch in September. He said the project is anticipated to take about 11 weeks.
“They are hoping to avoid as much wet weather as possible,” said Fraser.
He said the community forest board has been supportive of allocating additional funds to the project, and on August 7, the board passed a motion supporting the allocation.
“We are pleased to see important community forest grant projects move forward,” stated community forest board president Greg Hemphill in correspondence to the city.
City councillor Cindy Elliott asked whether any disruption of library service was anticipated resulting from the project. Fraser said no disruption was anticipated.
Councillor Rob Southcott said he was very appreciative of the community forest offering funding to care for this critical asset.
“It is a bit shocking, the amount of money it is going to cost,” said Southcott. “I can think of a lot of things $270,000 will buy.”
Southcott said his understanding is that the new product to be adhered to the library’s walls is completely different from the product that has been failing, which Fraser confirmed.
“We can assume this is going to be fixed once and for all,” said Southcott.
Fraser said that is the hope.
Councillor George Doubt said he was glad to see the project can go ahead because it has been a long time, since 2017, that the city has been looking for a solution.
“It will be good to get that fixed,” said Doubt. “What we are talking about now is a budget amendment to add to the community forest reserve funds that are being spent beyond what was previously budgeted.
“The total amount of money we are taking from the community forest reserve, which all comes from community forest income, is $312,837, if I’m correct, so it’s spending down the reserve that will be available for the future, but I want to thank the community forest for providing that money and putting it all together.”
Council voted unanimously to amend the 2025 to 2029 financial plan bylaw for the new library upper stucco and stone cladding replacement project, to increase the project budget in the amount of $134,487, with the increase funded by the community forest reserve fund.
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