The City of Flin Flon could reconsider plans to turn the Northern Bus Lines garage into a public works shop after a study found a much cheaper alternative.
Consulting firm BridgmanCollaborative Architecture determined the city can save $430,000 by upgrading its current public works site to meet its needs.
“The site is large enough to accommodate all operational needs of public works,” reads the 50-page report, commissioned by the city and released to the media last week. “The Northern Bus Lines site could not accommodate all needs at one location.”
The report notes city workers themselves consistently prefer the current site, which is more than seven times larger than the Northern Bus Lines property.
Of the eight building assets at the current site, six can be “feasibly adapted” for reuse, the report says.
The report recommends demolishing the remaining two buildings and constructing a new 6,100-sq-ft building to house offices, washrooms, lockers, a lunchroom and a machine shop.
The existing building where most workers congregate and work is “far beyond [its] life cycle,” states the report.
The report further recommends the existing mechanical garage be converted into inventory storage.
The Northern Bus Lines garage is over 4,000 sq ft larger than needed for the city’s purposes, but “the organization of space is poor for required uses,” states the report.
The total estimated cost of upgrading the current site is $2,005,000. The investment at Northern Bus Lines would be $2,435,000 – an additional $430,000.
As of late last week, the city had yet to announce which direction it intends to proceed.
Mayor Cal Huntley and council withheld comment on the report pending further discussion with Northern Bus Lines.
It was not clear whether the city would ask Northern Bus Lines to lower its asking price or whether the company would be willing to do so.
The city has for more than a year stressed the need for workplace improvements for public works employees, something the report also emphasizes.
“Action to address worker and operational needs is required,” the report read, adding “as the infrastructure of Flin Flon ages the necessity for Public Works to respond quickly to repairs will increase over time.”
The city’s current public works site is located between Flin Flon and Channing.
Flin Flon’s works and operations field staff consists of about 25 full-time people and up to 15 seasonal employees. The department houses and maintains 34 vehicles of a dozen different types.
