The Town of Osoyoos is heading back to the drawing board after funding shortfalls rendered a major project aimed at upgrading and expanding the Osoyoos Child Care Centre moot two and half years after it began.
The project would have also included an additional 18 licensed child care spaces. The town says it will now re-evaluate its needs and develop a practical strategy after funding issues killed the original plan.
“We are disappointed that the project is unable to proceed but believe that the needs assessment and action plan will assist in determining community needs and delivering adequate and appropriate childcare for Osoyoos for the foreseeable future,” the town said of the latest twist and turn in the child care continuum.
The Centre is in a town-owned facility and is operated by the Osoyoos Child Care Centre Society.
The project had envisaged a 3,200 square foot two-story addition to the Centre including three new bathrooms, a kitchen, childcare space including a nap room, staff room and office space.
The planned project also included renovations of the existing 4,130 square feet of space including increased energy efficiency of HVAC systems, electrical upgrades, windows, indoor storage, outdoor improvements including retaining walls, fencing, sunshades, covered entrances, indoor active play spaces and various capital purchases.
Things started out well with the town receiving a grant of $892,500 from the Union of British Columbia Municipalities’ (UBCM) Community Child Care Space Creation Program in June 2019.
The project commencement was then delayed as the Town worked with the Society to prepare and submit two additional grant applications to the provincial Childcare BC New Spaces Fund for $3,000,000 each.
The chinks in the armour became readily apparent as the first of these applications was denied, followed by a second rejection in September 2020. The town notes the applications were unsuccessful “for a variety of reasons.”
This includes the failure to provide documentation that supported the community’s needs linked to a community child care plan and that they failed to demonstrate the ability to create spaces that will serve underserved populations, children requiring extra support, Indigenous children and families, newly landed immigrants, refugees, and young parents.
While the province used to accept informal documentation to support the community’s needs and service delivery, the Ministry now requires applicants to have a child care plan and provide detailed descriptions and concrete examples of the services and programs to be provided.
“The grant applications now needed to demonstrate the ability to create inclusive, flexible and accessible care that is culturally based and that provides quality education and learning opportunities for all children,” the town said of its earlier effort.
In November 2020 the Town undertook a detailed project review, at which point concerns arose around the amount of funding available – which now stood at $892,500 – and the project described in the grant application.
An extension was granted by the UBCM and the Ministry with project completion now required by Nov. 1, 2022.
In January 2021 Colliers was brought on board through an RFP for project management services and, “it became obvious that the expansion plan described in the successful grant application was unachievable with available funds.”
A significant reduction of the project scope was proposed, but this then triggered a requirement that a new fund application, including drawings and technical specifications, be submitted for approval by the UBCM and the Ministry.
A tiered, negotiable, RFP process was then issued and an architectural firm and construction firm were engaged to develop project design in order to obtain UBCM and Ministry approval for the reduced project scope.
In October 2021, Colliers provided the Town with a memorandum regarding the project that identified project risks and an anticipated funding shortfall of about $500,000. This document also stated that the Town would need to commit around $100,000 in order to get a clearer picture of the anticipated funding shortfall and to determine if the UBCM and the Ministry would approve the use of grant funds for the much-reduced project scope.
If approval for a modified project was not granted, the Town of Osoyoos would be out $100,000 that was not provisioned for in its budget. Further discussions took place between the Town Council and representatives of the Child Care Society in early November.
Town staff also contacted the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to determine if the Town could use some of the COVID restart funds for the project, but learnt that it was not possible.
The issue was then discussed once again at a Nov. 23 council meeting and determined that the project would not proceed and directed that the Child Care Centre and UBCM be advised of that and that the grant funds would be returned to the UBCM.
At the Nov. 23 meeting, Council directed staff to include funds in the 2022-2026 Financial Plan for a Childcare Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan.
“It is hoped that through the assessment of needs and development of an action plan for childcare in Osoyoos that the community will be in a better position to take advantage of future Childcare BC New Spaces Fund grant opportunities up to $3,000,000 for the provision of additional, quality, affordable and inclusive childcare in Osoyoos,” the town said.
