The site preparation work at Centre St., where Fairvern Long-Term Care will be relocated, is costing more than the District of Muskoka anticipated.
An extra $485,000 is being added to allow the preparation work to move forward.
According to a Feb. 21 report by Jeff Yeo, director of facilities and support services, the projected cost of the work and amount of rock that needs to be removed by Sanford Investment Corp., which owns the property, is greater than originally estimated.
As part of the district’s delegated authority agreement, staff are able to negotiate the site work, however, they must stay within their allotted budget. With the increase, they now have $2,485,000 to work with.
“Estimates of the volume of site preparation works […] were based on the state of schematic design of the new building and geotechnical surveys of the site completed at that time,” writes Yeo.
While it will cost more, Yeo says no changes to the design will be needed.
“The geotechnical surveys included test pits and boreholes at select locations on the site to determine the depth of overburden and the top of bedrock,” explains Yeo. “This information was used to develop the estimated quantities of the site preparation works by extrapolation of overburden depths found at survey locations across the site. Actual quantities of site preparation works were determined by surveyed areas and quantities of materials removed and the surveyed difference between the exposed top of bedrock compared to the design elevation to be achieved.”
The change means the overall budget for the redevelopment of Fairvern is now just shy of $51 million.
In Yeo’s report, he writes the site preparation and property transfer will be done by the end of the first quarter of 2023. Yeo writes that rock blasting is ongoing on-site and will continue until mid-March.
He projects that the first resident will be able to move in by late 2025.