No such thing as free parking; budget for parkade expansion takes off

KELOWNA – City councillors have found out what the rest of us have known for years — that parking doesn’t come cheap in Kelowna.

City staff have asked council to transfer $762,000 from the future Ellis St. parkade budget to the current Library parkade expansion, allowing the project to be complete for summer, 2016.

The request came after the lowest of six initial price estimates from various construction companies came in at least $1.5 million over staff’s internal cost estimates. A rework and redesign reduced the budget gap but has not been able to close it.

Moving the reserve funds from one project to the other would allow the tender process to proceed, according to project manager Andrew Gibbs. The expansion will boost the number of parking spaces available in the Library parkade from 471 to 668 and is scheduled for completion in summer of 2016.

Gibbs did not provide a cost estimate for the Ellis parkade, which is to be built beside the Kelowna Museum, but told councillors that project had been put through the same cost-cutting and redesign exercise as the Library parkade and would likely come in lower in price than initial staff estimates.

Council had little to say about the increase, except Mayor Colin Basran who was quick to point out money would not be coming from taxation but rather parking reserves.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infotelnews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.