The City Operations Centre on York Road is mid-construction right now, but the project was a controversial one, with last minute reprieves and attempts at scuttling the project.
The story began in December of 2019. The existing Public Works Building had been condemned due to petroleum contamination. Public works manager Trent Mandzuk went before council with the proposal for a facility that would encompass the Public Works department and the Parks department into a single space. After a considerable amount of debate and a divided council, the project went to tender.
When the tender came back in April, some members of council balked at the cost of the project at $16,750,000, which still came in well below previous estimates of $20,000,000. Darcy Zaharia, Mitch Hippsley, Ken Chyz and Quinn Haider all voted against the project.
It took a second meeting of council and a cost reduction of $1,000,000, and a visit with employees on the site, to get Haider on side and the project approved with a 4-3 vote.
While there was an attempt made by Zaharia to call a second special meeting of council to debate the project again, the meeting was called off due to not meeting the requirements of a special meeting. The project has gone ahead, and is currently partially through the construction phase.
