Impact of 30 day hold Cedar Conversion to Elementary

Business Committee Motion At the December 10, 2014 Business Committee Meeting the Committee passed the following motion: “That the Business Committee recommends to the Board of Education of School District 68 (Nanaimo/Ladysmith) that it enact a 30-day hold on the construction and awarding of contracts at Cedar Elementary in order to review the long term impact of the construction at Cedar Elementary on the District.”

Business Committee Motion At the same Business Committee meeting Trustees asked for a staff comment on what impact, if passed, the motion might have on Facilities support staffing

Site visit On December 15 th a site visit for trustees was held at Cedar Elementary. Progress was reported as: ◦Playfield is substantially complete ◦Demolition substantially complete ◦Steel stud framing virtually complete ◦Under slab plumbing is complete ◦Concrete slabs have been made good ◦Plumbing rough in nearly complete ◦Electrical rough in underway

Site Meeting - Budget Reminder At the site meeting staff advised that the project budget allocations are: ◦$361,000 – Local capital (Playfield) ◦$1,000,000 – 14/15 AFG (Building+Site) ◦$1,000,000 – 15/16 AFG (Building+Site) ◦$2,361,000 – Total

Financials At the site meeting it was asked how much has been spent to date? As of December 10 th : ◦Approximately 100% of the local capital has been expended. ◦Approximately 55% of the 14/15 AFG capital has been expended.

Impact to Schedule The impact of a 30 calendar day Hold on the project would result in a ‘construction’ completion of around August 31. This was arrived at by adding 30 days to the schedule reported on November 12 th. A 30 day hold would substantially affect planning for the opening and complications in opening would be probable. Up to and including a possible delay in opening.

Contracts affected It is important to understand that the project at Cedar is “board managed” ◦The District is acting as its own general contractor ◦Labour is supplied under the CUPE collective agreement ◦All subcontracts are with the district ◦All supplies are purchased by the district ◦All overhead and rentals are by the district

Agreement “Directly” affected The District has an Energy Manager agreement with BC hydro. They fund 50% of the salary. ◦As part of the agreement with have an agreed SEMP (strategic energy management plan) which includes 2 projects at cedar separately funded out of the 14/15 AFG  C-OP or continuous optimization (2-variable speed drives)  Exterior Lighting upgrade + interior lighting controls Staff recommend to continue with these projects

Tender Affected A mechanical tender is required. The publish date has been delayed until the 18 th of December and publication will depend on the outcome of the meeting tonight. Staff feel it would be prudent to delay the tender, if the ‘hold’ is approved as the intentions of the District would not be clear and likely confuse bidders.  The delay of this tender would likely cause coordination complications later in the project.

Planning ‘focus’ affected Staff would turn planning efforts to other projects in an effort to appropriately reallocate CUPE forces and support other ‘approved’ projects. This shift in project focus would affect the momentum of the project if restarted.

Affect on Staffing Staff working at Cedar secondary would be reallocated to other approved projects. These projects include: ◦Approved 14/15 AFG projects (IS, SEMP, 10 year plan, etc.) ◦Approved Local Capital projects (North Oyster) ◦School funded projects (Various) ◦Other projects (yet to be identified) ◦Miscellaneous Maintenance work (as required)

In summary 30 day hold would: ◦Put a hold on the unspent Cedar $ ◦Cause a refocus of planning to other projects ◦Cause a reallocation of AFG forces ◦Require re-planning for a condensed schedule ◦Delay the mechanical tender ◦Delay or suspend misc. supplies/contracts ◦In affect be longer than 30 days due to demobilization and remobilization ◦Potentially delay opening ◦Cause an increase in project cost ◦Create confusion and uncertainty with respect to future of project ◦Cause uncertainty around planning for district goals

Past 30 days & Section 54 notice Layoffs could be up to 11 regular and 5 casual – i.e. the full compliment of workers currently funded outside of the operating budget. HR advised that layoffs of this magnitude require a Section 54 notice. Section 54 requires that no layoffs occur in the first 60 days after the notice. Therefore, Section 54 notice should be given immediately, if the hold is passed (Dec 18) 60 day layoff period will cause significant pressures on existing AFG plans and Operating resources to keep forces employed.