Emails obtained by The Citizen through a Freedom of Information request suggest Mayor Lyn Hall met with downtown parkade developer A & T Project Developments on July 6, 2018, two days after the company provided an updated cost estimate on the project to the city.
During a press conference on Jan. 25 this year, Hall said the significant cost overruns on parkade project were as much a surprise to him as the rest of city council. The preliminary budget for the project was $12.6 million, but the final cost came to $34.16 million – $22.46 million for the parkade, $597,138 to connect the parkade to the city's district energy system, and $11.1 million for water and sewer upgrades in the area, and other off-site works.
Hall acknowledged he was forwarded an email from A & T partner Frank Quinn on July 4, 2018, which warned of "very large overruns" on the project, but said he never received any follow-up on the issue. An hour after former city manager Kathleen Soltis forwarded the mayor that email, with a promise to keep him informed when she knew more, A & T president Jeff Arnold sent the city a detailed spreadsheet estimating the cost of the parkade project at $19.9 million.
"I have enclosed our detailed budget for our review on Friday and we are all about assisting in solutions on where we can," Arnold wrote in his Wednesday, July 4, 2018 email. "Lots to talk about."
On Monday, July 9, 2018, Soltis sent an email to then city general manager of planning and development Ian Wells, with the subject "Fw: Parkade Prince George Costing."
"How did things go with A&T on Friday?" Soltis asked Wells at 11:05 a.m.
"It went very well," Wells replied via email, 23 minutes later. "We indicated that they need to continue to get the best prices, and that City could not change the partnering agreement without Council Approval. Frank thought that Lyn needed to show some leadership regarding our salaries. Frank sent him a text offering to help. Call me if you need more info."
At 7:42 p.m. on July 9, 2018, Soltis replied, "Thanks, Ian. I talked with Lyn last night and he generally mentioned Frank's advice to me."
Both emails provided to The Citizen were redacted under Section 22 of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which says, "The head of a public body must refuse to disclose personal information to an applicant if the disclosure would be an unreasonable invasion of a third party's personal privacy."
On Monday afternoon, a city spokesperson said Hall denies having met with a representative of A & T Project Developments on July 6, 2018 about the parkade cost overruns, and did not receive any further updates on the subject until Well's report came before city council in December 2020.
The city released a copy of the mayor's schedule for the day, which does not show a meeting with A & T Project Developments. In addition, the city released an unredacted version of Well's email from 11:38 a.m. on July 9, 2018.
"Note: the meeting entitled 'legal options' was a meeting concerning the Citizen’s request regarding management salary information. In fact, Mr. Wells was not an attendee of that meeting," city spokesperson Mike Kellett said in an email. "The additional emails were regarding management salaries – not parkade costing - despite the subject heading. We needed time today to obtain necessary consents to disclose the redacted information in the email chain to you that you are referring to in your article. We trust this clarifies that the emails were not in regard to 'Parkade costing,' but rather in regard to senior management salaries."
PARKADE TIMELINE
On March 11, 2019, more than eight months after the city received the updated project budget from Arnold, city council approved the amended city financial plan by adding the parkade project. Council was asked to approve the initial, preliminary budget of $12.6 million.
On Sept. 24, 2019, Arnold emailed Wells another updated budget, this time showing the project budget had grown to $22.64 million.
On Nov. 19, 2019, the city's finance and audit committee which includes Hall and councillors Garth Frizzell, Frank Everitt and Cori Ramsay, received an update on the city's capital projects, including the parkade. The committee was told the total spending on the parkade project, as of Nov. 5, 2019, was at $16.37 million.
Then on Aug. 31, 2020, city council was asked to approve the city's annual report, which showed the total spending to date on the parkade at more than $17.96 million. It was that report, which prompted Coun. Brian Skakun to put forward a motion asking for a report on the budget status of the parkade project.
It was only on Dec. 7, when council received a report from Wells – by that time the acting deputy city manager after the departure of Soltis – that the full extent of the cost overrun of the project was revealed.
