Fire chief ordered firehall project expansion

The controversialexpansion of Station 11firehall in Winnipeg wasgreen-lighted by the city's fire chief, according to a new report.

The expansion, done without city council approval, has boosted the project's budget by $2.2 million.

The report, going before the city's protection and community servicescommittee on Monday, claimsfire chief Reid Douglaschanged the scope of the project and had the authority to do so.

'Council is supposed to make those decisions before the project proceeds. Council is supposed to know these things.' Coun. Jenny Gerbasi

Coun. Jenny Gerbasi called the report a whitewash.

"They don't really explain why he has that authority. He obviously doesn't have the authority over the increased costs, because that's having to come forward in a report," she said.

"It's this vague whitewash, saying he had the authority.Well, no administrator has the authority to build a bigger building that's costing more.

"Council is supposed to make those decisions before the project proceeds.Council is supposed to know these things," Gerbasi added.

"And here we were as councillors, we couldn't even get a simple answer to who made the decision. We still don't really have that answer in my opinion."

More questions than answers

Coun. Paula Havixbeck, who chairs the protection and community services committee, is also unhappy with the report and saidit raises more questions than it answers.

"I have faith in our fire chief. I've known him many years. I believe he is keeping our city safe [but] should he be managing properties? [Thats] probably outside the scope of his responsibilities," she said.

She is demanding the citys chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl and chief operating officer Deepak Joshi appear at Monday's meeting to answer her questions.

Joshi told reporters on Thursday the fire chief thought he could come up with operational efficiencies and come within budget.

"The fire chief made a decision on a scope change that he felt would deliver operational efficiencies, and in order to deliver those operational efficiencies he felt it was the right thing to doat the time. And he felt he was within budget," he said.

Gerbasi said it will takethe planned audit to make anything clear.

Station 11, under construction near the Route 90 and Portage Avenue cloverleaf,is part of a largerquestionable land swap deal at the citythat will soon be reviewed by external auditors.

Douglas,head of Winnipeg's Fire Paramedic Service, is in the middleof that controversy as well, forarranging a verbal agreement with Shindico Realty on the land swap.

That deal was also done without council approval.

Fire chief pulled off project

MayorSam Katz tookDouglas off theStation 11 project earlier this monthamid controversy about the expansion, and put the city's property and planning department in charge of the job.

At that time, Katz said he didn't know who ordered changes to the building's size, or whatwas planned for the extra space, but he said Douglas should not have been put in charge of the project in the first place.

On Thursday, Katz said Douglas' mistake was going over budget. He was given a budget to build four new fire halls, and it was up to Douglas to decide how best to spend the money.

But Katz says when the projects went over budget, that's when Douglas brought it back to the politicians.

"I think he's basically saying, 'listen, you know, mea culpa.It was my responsibility. I thought I had it under control and it wasn't the case,'" Katz said.

The report going to the committee on Monday requests council provide an additional $2,496,589 for the firehall projects.

Of that, $2.2 million is for Station 11, the size of whichhas increasedby 3,500 square feet since the construction and design plans were tendered going from 10,500 square feet to 14,000 square feet.

The other $264,451 is for extra costs incurred at Stations 12, 18 and 27.

Station 11's totalexpense is now$6.5 million.

It was originally set at about $4.1 million before being amended to $4.5 in September. Anticipated costs then rose to about $5.8 million andnow to $6.5 million.

The final number accounts for $6.2 million in construction costs and $300,000 in "other" costs, which are not listed in detail.

The original construction cost was $3.9 million.

The report states Station 11 was expanded to accomodate a hazardous materials unit.

"It has the ability to best protect the public by significantly increasing responsiveness to the unique risks created by hazardous material (haz-mat) incidents in the industrial area (including the airport and the new CentrePort developments)," the report states.

"The haz-mat response is currently conducted from two separate locationsone in St. Boniface and the other in the Maples. The construction of the new Station 11 will allow the relocation of the haz-mat unit from the Maples (Station 7) to this more strategic location."