COLD LAKE - The City of Cold Lake is moving ahead with major plans for its new Public Works Operations Centre, after council approved a motion at its April 8 regular council meeting to significantly increase the project’s budget.
Council passed a resolution to amend the 2025 Capital Budget from $14.4 million to $30.8 million allocating $12.9 million to the Public Works Operations Centre and $3.5 million to the stormwater management facility.
Council also passed an Interim 2026 Capital Budget of $6.4 million to further fund the Operations Centre.
These updates reflect the funding needed to close the gap between the original budget and the final cost estimates based on current quotes and bid feedback.
The previously allocated budget for the Operations Centre project was $32.4 million but the updated total project cost, including the operations building, site servicing, construction contingencies, and the storm pond, is now $55.3 million according to the city’s agenda.
This results in a funding shortfall of approximately $23 million, which the approved budget sets to address.
The stormwater pond, though closely linked to the overall site development, is being funded separately through a $3.5 million debenture. This will allow the city to potentially recover those costs in the future through off-site levies.
“That's why we separated that so that way it doesn't get too layered into the overall operations centre budget,” CAO Kevin Nagoya said.
This approach helps keep the primary facility’s budget focused while addressing additional infrastructure needs, according to information from the City.
Nagoya added, “The development community that is adjacent to the Public Works Operations Centre has also requested for some infrastructure to go in, so that way development is not hindered in a bottleneck that it can't grow within that neighborhood as well.”
With bids and construction management plans in place, the City hopes to move ahead swiftly. As for projecting long-term costs, the process remains fluid.
“That being said, there's no way to forecast any of that… If you ask somebody to lock a bid in that matter, of course they're going to build in a whole bunch of fluff and profitability,” said Nagoya
“I anticipate, even if we launch right now, we'll bleed into end of 2026, start of 2027 before the project is fully completed,” Nagoya said.
Council made a motion to approve the project by passing a resolution to amend the 2025 Capital Budget. Council also passed an Interim 2026 Capital Budget of $6.4 million to continue funding the Public Works Operations Centre.
