A firm wanting an extra 18 thousand dollars for work done for the municipality of Kincardine has made its case to Council.
Senior Engineer Wayne Wood explained the tedious process of documenting and placing a value on all of Kincardine’s municipal assets.
He says the data available was not necessarily adequate — and that means his staff had to work beyond the original 160 thousand dollar contract.
UEM consultants have discovered about 70 different types of assets exist in Kincardine, and available information on them was not always sufficient.
He says the project is unique in Kincardine and the whole province because municipalities are now required to evaluate all of their assets in order to meet new public sector accounting rules.
Wood notes that no two municipalities are the same, and that infrastructure is built to meet local needs, and evaluating various items can be challenging.
He says Kincardine is in the middle when it comes to the availability of the data needed — some municipalities have less, while others have much more.
Councillor Ken Craig says council should have been better informed about the extra costs — which were originally 35 thousand dollars, but have since been whittled down to 18 thousand after talks between UEM and Finance Department staff.
Wood accepts responsibility for the gap in communication.
Deputy Mayor Laura Haight says council should have done a better job at staying informed of the situation as well.
Mayor Larry Kraemer says paying the extra 18 thousand is not what he would prefer to do — but thinks they “an honourable settlement.”
Council will formally approve and pay the extra 18 thousand dollar bill at a future meeting.