By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle
Oliver will replace the siding on the Oliver Visitor Centre and was hesitant about the idea of reusing the old siding.
Council moved on Aug 26 to award the contract to replace the siding on the CPR Chamber of Commerce building, which is the official name for the Oliver Visitor Center, to Sun City Exteriors for $103,850 excluding GST.
The vote was unanimous, but only after a bit of confusion as to why in the report it explained that there was an additional optional amount of $17,500 extra to reuse the existing siding.
Councillor Aimee Grice asked town staff why it costs more to reuse the siding as opposed to brand new material and why it is optional in the report.
Director of Operations Kelly Mercer explained that the town does not know the condition of the siding yet, “until they start removing it, they can’t tell if they can reuse it.”
The cost is higher for reusing the material because the labour and maintenance costs are higher than getting brand new material. Mercer explained you would have to take out screws, fill holes, among other more labour-intensive factors.
Councillor David Mattes questioned why the town would pursue that avenue.
He noted, “We are replacing this because it has reached the end of its life and it’s worn out. But yet we want to reuse the material? Would we get the same life out of the used material as we will out of the new material? Or are we going to be back here in two or three years saying that stuff didn’t work out so well, we need to replace the old stuff.”
Mercer responded that it was a request of the Oliver & District Heritage Society to try and reuse as much of the siding as possible.
Mayor Martin Johansen expressed his agreement with Mattes, “I think we should just commit to putting new material on there . . . As long as you are keeping with the form and character.”
