Municipal facilities | Explosion of costs for two Terrebonne projects

Costs have exploded for two municipal projects under construction in Terrebonne: the wastewater treatment plant will cost 135 million instead of the 11 million originally planned (increase of 1127%), while the bill for the new police headquarters will reach 96 million instead of 14 million (up 585%).

” It is enormous ! “, deplores in an interview the Auditor General of the City, Sonya Guilbault, who noted these “shortcomings” in her annual report, tabled Monday during the meeting of the municipal council.

Terrebonne poorly framed and poorly monitored these projects, which took much longer than expected, she points out.

The wastewater treatment plant project was initiated in 2011 and its commissioning is now scheduled for 2024, eight years later than the date originally planned.

As for the police headquarters, it is a project started in 2009 which was initially to be completed in 2015. In reality, its inauguration should take place in the fall of 2023.

These delays are partly responsible for the escalating costs, notes M^me Guilbault, who mentions the inflation of recent years and the surge in prices in the construction industry.

Errors and Changes

But it is mostly mistakes and changes to projects that are at fault, she says.

For the treatment plant, for example, three opportunity studies have been carried out over the years, and there were a lot of inaccuracies at the start, explains the auditor.

At a certain point, it was realized that the planned building was too small to contain the necessary equipment and that it was also necessary to dig new ponds.

The police station project, which includes a shooting range, has also evolved a lot in the 14 years it has been on the drawing board. “The shooting ranges used to be just corridors with a plaque at the end, whereas now they are simulators. It changes the scope, so it’s obvious that it changes the costs, ”illustrates Sonya Guilbault.

The auditor believes that the City took too long before implementing an action plan to avoid delays and cost overruns for other projects. “We made essentially the same recommendations in 2013 during an audit. The City had devised a process, but it was never implemented,” she reveals.

Project office

In response to the report, the City of Terrebonne announced on Tuesday the creation of a project office that will report to general management and will be responsible for coordinating and structuring major projects. He will be responsible for training experts as well as selecting and implementing project management monitoring software, explains Stéphane Larivée, Deputy General Manager, who will be responsible for this new entity.

But in the same breath, Mr. Larivée maintains that there are “certain justifications” for the cost overruns of the two projects cited.

The estimate made in 2009 of the bill for the future treatment plant was very rough, he said. And over the years, the project has completely changed.

A more efficient plant makes it possible to treat a larger volume of wastewater, which allows the City to grow by becoming denser, adds Mr. Larivée. This expansion will provide more revenue to the City.

As for the police headquarters, the Deputy Director General points out that it is larger than initially projected because the service has more employees and the 911 central has expanded, in particular.

The police headquarters will be funded by loan by-laws in full, while the sewage plant could be funded by $42 million in government grants and loan by-laws for the remaining value, says the Auditor General’s report.