Lloydminster City Council has approved $175,000 in extra funding for the Lloydminster Public Library’s re-location.
This new money will be added to the $1.5 million allocated in the city budget for this project. In a presentation to Council on Monday, it was determined that more funding was needed due to increased construction pricing, a more accurate assessment of needs and unexpected unknowns in the relocation logistics.
City Administration estimates the removal costs of items in the library to be upwards of $20,000. In addition to this, it was also found that while upgrades to IT were initially pegged at $50,000, it now looks like it will cost closer to $75,000 after it was found that the overall network and server architecture needed to be redesigned.
Mayor Gerald Aalbers says while the City’s staff is working hard to keep close to budget, a project like this can come with unforeseen costs.
“We build roads annually, we build water and sewer annually, but we haven’t moved a library in 26-plus years. So if we miss the mark a little bit, I have an understanding that it can certainly happen. They’re going to do their best to contain costs and stay on budget, but as we saw today they ran into some unexpected challenges, and we hope that’s the end of them, but we’ll work through them with the library.”
Another of the large factors requiring the funding increase is the library’s book return sorting machine.
While it was originally supposed to cost $15,000 to move the machine, it was found that the manufacturer of the unit no longer operates in North America. This would make obtaining new parts or installation very costly.
With few manufacturers of the machines left, City staff decided to go with a 3-bin sorting machine, which will cost around $80,000 instead of a new 5-bin sorter, which would have cost $120,000. The library will be providing $42,000 of its reserves towards this machine as well.
Aalbers says he’s appreciative of the library doing their part to help as both the library and the city’s teams navigate concerns.
“It just changes things and challenges us a little bit, and that’s the ongoing world we’re in right today, supply chain challenges of all sorts that can even affect us at the library.”
Administration notes that this $175,000 will cover all additional costs and continue to help complete the project to meet the community’s needs.