HORSHAM Rural City Council will increase the Horsham Town Hall and art gallery redevelopment budget by $200,000.
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Councillors voted on the increase at a meeting on Monday night.
The contingency budget for the project was about $750,000, five per cent of the main construction cost.
It will increase to about $950,000.
Council’s technical services director John Martin presented a budget review to council, which included a recommendation to increase the budget by $317,000 to accommodate anticipated costs for completing the project.
The report stated the project was within budget at this stage, but that a number of variations had arisen in the main contract.
These included variations to below-ground work, structural steel work, pre-cast concrete panels, and external cladding and roofing.
Other material variations included soil contamination in parts of the site, the discovery of asbestos beyond that identified in the pre-project environmental audits, and corrections to issues associated with the existing building uncovered during development work.
The report stated the project was about two-thirds constructed, but other variations could arise.
Cr Tony Phelan presented a motion that council commit an additional $200,000 to the project budget to support contingency and scope requirements – $150,000 from infrastructure reserve funding, and $50,000 from council’s 2013-14 surplus.
Cr David Grimble successfully amended the motion to separate the contingency and scope elements.
Councillors agreed to commit an additional $200,000 to the redevelopment from infrastructure service funds to support contingency requirements.
The $200,000 will also be available for scope requirements.