Capital project management review approved by Council

Prince George City Council is taking steps to improve transparency around capital project management.

Several reports were brought before Mayor and Council at tonight’s (Monday) meeting, starting with a list of overbudget projects from 2020.

Overall cost overruns totaled about $8.5 million dollars, not including areas where the city managed to save costs.

“It’s not really a comfortable report, to show your underbelly, to show you’re over by $8.5 million. But we are aware most of that is the parkade, and we’re dealing with that,” said Councillor Cori Ramsay.

“It’s not a good news story,” added Councillor Brian Skakun.

23 under-budget projects and an operating surplus when combined, total about $2.3 million in savings.

Despite this, the city is still looking at an overage of $6.3 million under the previous delegated authority rules.

In the past, the city manager was able to approve costs at five percent of the total operating budget of $165 million.

That means about $8.5 million dollars could be approved by the city manager without having to report to Council.

Now, the City Manager is authorized to approve an overrun of five percent of a project, with a maximum of $100,000.

In addition, a report on delegated authority use will be presented to the council every quarter.

Costs for four projects also continue past 2020, including the new library entrance, George Street Parkade, Fire Hall replacement, and general utility costs, all totaling about $1.35 million.

Council also voted unanimously to review the city’s capital project management and governance practices.

The review will also recommend when to obtain legal advice for contracts or when to hire an external consultant.

“Really, if we want to find a way of this, to have proper reporting and proper accountability, this is a step in the right direction. None of this will matter if the administration is not upfront with us and upfront with the public,” said Skakun.

The review, estimated to cost about $180,000, is expected by the end of the year.

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Prince George city council is asking the RCMP to establish an integrated homicide team to investigate suspicious deaths in northern B-C.

Councilors say the lack of a team, similar to one in the southern part of the province, is slowing police services, as more members are devoted to murder cases.

Police are currently investigating the city’s fourth homicide of the year.

The North District RCMP covers the northern two-thirds of the province, operating more than 40 detachments.