{"id":20609,"date":"2018-05-10T10:38:17","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T14:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=20609"},"modified":"2018-05-10T10:38:17","modified_gmt":"2018-05-10T14:38:17","slug":"2-2-million-price-tag-turns-the-page-on-joc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/2-2-million-price-tag-turns-the-page-on-joc\/","title":{"rendered":"$2.2 million price tag turns the page on JOC"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir
\n<\/strong>
\nFunding to finally complete Aurora\u2019s Joint Operations Centre is set to receive Council approval this week.
\nA total of $2,185,200 worth of capital works, funded by reserves and development charges so it doesn\u2019t result in a direct hit to taxpayers, will be required to finish the job on a project Councillors described as the \u201cclose of a chapter.\u201d
\nThe final tally was presented at last Tuesday\u2019s General Committee meeting by Al Downey, Aurora\u2019s Director of Operations. Mr. Downey\u2019s report signalled the final step in the full audit over the Joint Operation Centre\u2019s (JOC) construction, which was requested by Council last year.
\nThe initial audit, as reported earlier this spring by The Auroran, criticized the build for its \u201cpoor management\u201d in a number of areas, stemming from its lack of a specifically-tasked project manager until the JOC was well underway.
\nIt also outlined a number of essential components of the JOC that were removed from the build\u2019s original scope so it appeared to be within budget. These elements were then brought back to Council for further approval as extra add-on items.
\nMr. Downey\u2019s report \u2013 and recommendations \u2013 follow a Council decision which tasked staff with bringing forward all the items, previously approved conditionally at budget time, that are required to complete the JOC.
\nAmong the items still needed to be completed out of the contract were back lot paving to the tune of $890,200, completion of the upper parking lot and rear yard for $285,000, landscaping for $85,000, a garbage tipping station for $100,000, $60,000 for exterior signage, and $45,000 for furniture.
\nNew items \u2013 encompassing those cut from the original design \u2013 include $300,000 for storage buildings, $50,000 for automated gate control, $50,000 for south side exterior finishing, $300,000 to complete the shell space on the third floor, and $20,000 for an intercom system.
\nIn addition to these items, approvals from the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) are still outstanding.
\n\u201cPermits for the JOC were obtained from the LSRCA to commence work on the site,\u201d said Mr. Downey. \u201cDuring the construction process, fill was placed into the valley without the approval of the LSRCA. Staff from the LSRCA have attended the site and inspected the results of the fill operations. The site remains stable and erosion protection has been installed; however, ground cover and landscaping to stabilize the slopes is required.
\n\u201cStaff have been in communication with the LSRCA and are awaiting either approval of the works or direction regarding what remedial actions are required to obtain approval. Staff have not included any cost estimates for remedial works as they are unknown at this time. If capital funding is required, staff will prepare a separate report to Council requesting such funding.\u201d
\nWhile this approval remains a missing piece of the puzzle, Council members expressed some relief that they are close to turning the page on this project, which has been dogged by controversy from the start.
\n\u201cI am really relieved to have this chapter of the JOC, at least in my mind, to be closed and everything that needed to be in the JOC has been budgeted, accounted for, and all of the requirements for staff are in there,\u201d said Councillor Harold Kim. \u201cAgain, it was necessary that it was overbudget, but things that should have been included were not included. I am just happy this chapter is over and the JOC will finally be how it should have been at the very beginning.\u201d
\nA similar sentiment was offered by Councillor John Abel.
\n\u201cI am along the lines of Councillor Kim that we\u2019re finally closing the loose ends on this project,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was controversial from the beginning, but one of the main things that was borne out was there was no project management methodology in place, and that came from the auditor and that was his comment. We will take that as something we learned from that. As we said at the conclusion of that audit, this is something we will use further for any projects that we are undertaking.\u201d
\nWhile Councillor Wendy Gaertner said she had an issue with the project being completed from Development Charges earmarked for Parks & Facilities as well as Roads & Related, money set aside for indoor recreation and roads, she said should not be used in this project, she argued.
\nTown Treasurer Dan Elliott, on the other hand, said that portions of this project funding will be used for equipment and other items related to parks and roads maintenance.
\nAnother sticking point was the building out of the JOC\u2019s third floor shell space.
\nThis shell space was intended as a cost-effective way to have space ready once other administration spaces become overcrowded, eyed as potential future office space that could be used for storage in the meantime.
\nThis build-out, however, is coming sooner than Council anticipated.
\n\u201cWe haven\u2019t determined which department [will be moving into the space],\u201d said CAO Doug Nadorozny, responding to questions from Councillor Michael Thompson. \u201cWe\u2019re actually at the ELT (Executive Leadership Team) table having that discussion right now on the best way to proceed. The idea is to relocate one department there which would create swing space in this building because we are at capacity. As you can see in the lobby and the second floor [at Town Hall] we\u2019re pushing out cubicles and so on to accommodate the staff we have. We will decide which group should be in there and move one group over to the JOC facility and come back to Council with a plan for this building.\u201d
\nCouncillor Thompson, in turn, expressed some misgivings.
\n\u201cIt is something that has been in front of Council since I have been on Council, in 2011, so I think that it would help us to stay in the loop,\u201d he said. \u201cI would appreciate you coming back because I have had multiple conversations when it comes to Town Hall space needs. It was one of the ideas on why the third floor was put forward for the JOC as well, but just to be part of the conversation would be great.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Funding to finally complete Aurora\u2019s Joint Operations Centre is set to receive Council approval this week.
\nA total of $2,185,200 worth of capital works, funded by reserves and development charges so it doesn\u2019t result in a direct hit to taxpayers, will be required to finish the job on a project Councillors described as the \u201cclose of a chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5mp","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-16 15:20:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20609\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}