North Bay City Council voted 10-1 in favour of reallocating nearly $58,000 to continue repair work on the McIntyre Street West municipal parking garage.
Before the vote during Tuesday's virtual regular meeting, Coun. Chris Mayne called the funding "an investment in something deemed important by Council for the downtown area," and all his fellow members agreed, save Coun. Mac Bain.
Mayne, Chair of Council's Infrastructure and Operations Committee, added the parking structure is "well-needed for commercial and residential space in the community," but Bain would not budge off his contention the City of North Bay should have sold the property when it had the chance.
See original story: Council poised to park more money in downtown garage
Brook Restoration Ltd. has been working since late August on the original $465,000 contract awarded in July and the $58,000 top-up approved Tuesday will extend the work through November.
The parking garage is more than 50 years old and has seen $1.5 million in maintenance and rehabilitation in the past decade. According to the City, the garage is designed to operate on a cost-recovery basis. While parking generates revenue for the City overall, capital costs such as repairs have kept the municipal garage itself in the red for the past 10 years.
The $58,000 will go toward the full replacement of the expansion joints, as recommended by the engineers, and will be transferred from two other projects. Approximately $48,000 will come from the Parking Lot Maintenance and Improvement Program 2019, plus another $9,500 from the Pete Palangio Parking Lot rehabilitation project.