"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Tuesday 3 March 2015

Cold Hard Unforgiving Inexcusable Facts of the Matter

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post ""The Mouse That Roared"":
The discussion had been about the missing penalty clause and Evelyn was correct. Council did have to pass a motion to include it in all future contracts. It had not been requited before and was largely responsible for the town paying so much for the Leisure Complex modifications. 
Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 2 March 2015 at 15:38

********************************************

It is not accurate that  lack of a penalty clause was the reason the AFLC project  cost  zoomed above the contract price and  completion was five months late.

I don't believe Councillor Mrakas motion was intended  to obscure the facts.  It was hardly his job to  explain how things went wrong.New Councillors are being managed. It will take a little while for them to recognize it.

Penalty clauses are like window dressing. They make the product  look good.but have no value in themselves.

The AFLC renovation and addition  was  five months late in completion and  exceeded  the contract price by  $1.650 million. An absent penalty clause was not the problem. 

The town has a legal department with two competent lawyers who have not been afraid to provide
straightforward professional advice to Council.

They were not retained by the Mormac regime to enable whatever political exigencies were presented to them .  Town Solicitor Warren Mar has not been quoted on any aspect of a penalty clause. That"s anabsence to be noted.

 The contract price escalated because  plans  for a structural component failed to be  included in   specifications and had to be added after the contract was awarded.

Considering  strict legality of  the award process for public contracts,the  failure wouldnot be to the town's advantage in any dispute over liability. A million dollar oversight does not qualify as a minor
change order.

Mr Simanovskis  has noted lin a public meeting, staff had no idea how much time was needed to
supervise  the project. It follows  the right amount was not expended.

For the Joint Facility  he recommended as an afterthought  and received approval to hire a. project  manager  to supervise construction .ALREADY. UNDERWAY  since July 29th 2014.

 SEVEN MONTHS AGO?

Even if  the AFLC project  had finished on time, both projects would have overlapped  and plans were for supervision  by staff  already working  at  full-time functions.

Even if that  was practical, what does a Directorof Environment and Public Works Infrastructure and
the Manager of Facility  Maintenance know of  particular features of a multiple recreational facility

Oh Dear Me No!!! The  failure  had nothing to do with lack of a penalty clause.

Everything to do with stupidity. ignorance. lack of due diligence and plenty of blame to share.

If ever Council needed an in -camera meeting to dig beyond the surface for  answers this was such an occasion

At least they might have been able to provide a logical  explanation instead of  the faulty  logic of errors and omissions in a legal contract.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

It would be better if we had a decent communications dept. and did not have to rely upon drips and drabs from gossip and the newspapers. The mayor was quoted on the penalty clause and that motion was passed by all of the councillors. There is no one speaking on behalf of the town to whom we can turn when a mess ensues. And that cost escalation was certainly a mess.

Weather's getting nasty - everyone be careful out there.

Anonymous said...

Penalty clauses are double edge swords. If you were to put one in to protect yourself, the contract price will go up because the contractor will need to purchase insurance and will pass along the costs. So you're protected, but is the cost benefit acceptable?

What I find amazing is the newspaper headlines that a Project Manager has been retained for the JOC project. The way it was worded I assume that there was no dedicated PM on the LC project. If that is true, then the council is guilty of negligence.

Anonymous said...

And they want to take on a new Sports Facility ?

Anonymous said...

13:34
If they bring in an outside Project Manager, is that not a way of distancing themselves from responsibility ? Just asking as this is not my field.

Anonymous said...


What exactly are the Project Manager's professional qualifications and experience?

This should be made public by Council so we can all be satisfied with the level and expertise that will be brought to the job and so that there will be no "surprises."

Anonymous said...

I sure Wish Evelyn was still on council. All this stuff is making me want to throw up and I don't even watch the meetings anymore.

Anonymous said...

"I sure Wish Evelyn was still on council"

I bet the present Council is glad she isn't.

Anonymous said...

Mr Simanovskis' another excuse to hire project manager - he needs to look after the clear bags and led lights. It's a joke! So he get's the easy job for his/her high salary. No wonder they have to pay the project manager such a high number because they need to scale it accordingly.

Anonymous said...

20:39- I definitely would have wanted Evelyn to be on council. But...I think I'm kinda liking her being on the sidelines. She is now not bound to "confidentiality BS". I've learned you don't have to be in the soup for it to be good. Participating in the making of it, is just as important....And many times even more important.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully the project manager has his/her PMP designation. In order to get that you have to take a number of courses, show experience and then write an exam.

I have done the first two myself - no exam yet.

Anonymous said...

According to the other paper, the town has Highland's plan. Now that should be fun to watch unlike Timberlane which might as well go straight to the OMB

Anonymous said...

23:57 - Sure they're glad she's not on council! 4 more yrs of having Evelyn showing how everyone is inept in that council chamber. I wouldn't want her there either if I was one of them.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, but she isn't get paid for all her effort.
I feel beholden to her & Christopher,

Anonymous said...

18:18
Your fawning over both is all that their egos need.