It’s unlikely the Capital Regional District’s $765-million sewage-treatment mega-project will be completed on budget, CRD politicians have been told.

“We are feeling concerned that there is a likelihood that we will not be able to deliver the program within the control budget,” Don Fairbairn, chairman of the sewage-treatment project, has told CRD directors.

“We continue to face pressures on cost. Those pressures are becoming more significant for us.”

The extent of the cost overruns is still being determined. Consultants have been hired to help assess the scope of the problem and what mitigating measures might be taken, Fairbairn said.

More definitive cost estimates are expected by mid-March.

Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, who chairs the CRD’s core area sewage committee, said without knowing the magnitude of the potential overages, it would be premature to comment.

“We all know that construction costs have escalated substantially, so it’s really almost not much of a surprise to hear that they’re feeling that there may be some pinch there,” Desjardins said.

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, the committee’s vice-chairwoman, called the potential cost increase “a reality check” and “the price you pay for a strong economy.”

Keep reading in the Times Colonist

 

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