The award of a design contract for the reconstruction of North Bay's Main Street and other sections of the downtown core will have to wait as North Bay City Council referred the item back to its infrastructure and operations committee.
This, after Coun. Mark King expressed his displeasure at spending the recommended $340,000 to hire an out-of-town company to do the design work King feels the City of North Bay staff is capable of performing as part of its duties.
See original story: Report: Main Street 'beyond rehabilitation'
"We've gone down this road I don't know how many times with consultants," said King during Tuesday's virtual meeting. "There are other people on Council who have to wonder why we're spending that type of money when we should have the ability inside City departments to put this thing together and actually make a plan that suits the needs of the City of North Bay not some outside consultant."
Council members seemed taken aback by King's suggestion and Councillors Mac Bain and Marcus Tignanelli moved that the matter be referred back to the committee so no "questions were left hanging," about the possibility of City staff taking over. Bain also shared he finds an effective method of having these questions answered is to ask senior staff before the meeting is held.
Coun. Dave Mendicino had earlier shared the excitement of his fellow board members on the Downtown North Bay committee over the planned $4 million revitalization of the downtown core, slated for 2022-23.
"We have an opportunity to redesign our downtown," said Mendicino, "and I am looking forward to it."
King followed with, "I won't be supporting this. I think we need to understand the process and what's actually taking place here. This is for design services and construction inspections."
He indicated the COVID-19 pandemic had bolstered his outlook on keeping services in-house.
"The fact that there is capacity inside City departments, I'm wondering why we are bringing in an outside consultant to provide a plan, when, in fact, we should have the capability internally, inside the City, to put that plan in play."
King surmised City staff could also serve as liaisons between Downtown North Bay members and "other interested individuals in the development of the downtown core."
King continued, "What would come out of this is not a plan that's derived by some outside firm that doesn't understand the city or its make-up."
This approach, involving City resources would better serve the needs of the businesses in the downtown core, he said.
The design contract was recommended to be awarded to R.V. Anderson Associates Limited, which has a head office in Toronto and a satellite office based in Sudbury.
A recent City of North Bay staff report recommends awarding the design contract and, ultimately, proceeding with the project as "the surface infrastructure on Main Street downtown is at the end of its life and is beyond rehabilitation and requires complete reconstruction. Not proceeding with the design and the subsequent reconstruction will lead to increased and escalating maintenance costs and safety concerns."
