Construction for the Port Elgin paramedic station is moving along well, despite labour shortages and supply issues early in the building process.
Facilities Project Manager Tony Ban provided an update to the Bruce County Paramedic Services Committee, saying that because of those early delays, the opening for the new station needs to be put off until later this year — instead of occupancy starting in the second quarter of 2023, it’s now delayed until Q4.
“We seem to be on a good trajectory now, since the beginning of April. Things are picking up speed and progressing a lot better than they had [in] the previous year,” Ban told the committee at their meeting on May 18th.
When asked by councillor Kenneth Craig as to what could improve next time for a build such as this to avoid construction delays, Ban answered that “We knew we were going to be in for a tough build because of the times we’re in, with trade shortage, labour shortage, [and] supply chain issues.”
He added that county staff will be working to improve their process for requests for proposals saying, “One thing that I’ve learned and we’ve had discussions on, and we will be working on, is a better RFP process to pick our design consultant.”
Ban also informed the council that he estimated a building like the new paramedic station will last at least 75 years before needing major repairs or replacement.
