Renfrew, Ont. town council failed to properly scrutinize Ma-Te-Way expansion: report
CTV
A new report into the multi-million-dollar Ma-Te-Way Centre expansion project says the Town of Renfrew council failed to properly scrutinize the controversial and costly venture.
A new report into the multi-million-dollar Ma-Te-Way Centre expansion project says the Town of Renfrew council failed to properly scrutinize the controversial and costly venture.
The expansion of the Ma-Te-Way Centre was originally expected to cost $18 million, but the final report prepared by WSCS Consulting into the decisions that led to the project's cost overruns says the development has ballooned to $38.7 million and will leave Renfrew taxpayers footing the bill for decades.
Renfrew approved a process to replace the aging recreation centre to build the expanded Ma-Te-Way Centre, which included the addition of a second ice pad, a walking track, gymnasium, fitness centre and multicultural hub. The town obtained more than $11 million in grant funding from the federal and provincial governments in 2020 and awarded a construction contract in 2021.
The original budget was $18 million. The report states that the budget was unrealistic from the outset.
"Even though every tender and proposal came in over budget, the Town insisted on presenting it based upon its set budget as if to say that it did not believe the contractors or consultants. This was a major failing and likely resulting in the loss of $7M in potential grant funding. Even though estimates showed that the project would likely cost $23-25M, the Town submitted the grant application for $16M and received $11.8M in funding."
The report says a lack of oversight by the town council and the project director led to flawed financial strategy and analysis.
"Council placed an unreasonable and ill-informed amount of confidence in the former Director of Parks and Recreation without understanding the implications at a time of organizational restructuring. Consequently, Council allowed the Director to make decisions with respect to design, scope, partnerships and construction tenders without approval or oversight. Weak internal controls allowed for inappropriate transactions to be approved, conflict of interest and Town policies, code of conduct and bylaws violated," the report says.
