Councillors have reconfirmed their commitment to the redevelopment of Bega Valley's regional art gallery following the collapse of building contractor Lloyd Group.
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However, the discussion was not without robust debate over funding such a commitment.
Bega Valley Shire councillors met on Monday, May 8, in an extraordinary meeting to discuss the way forward for the South East Centre for Contemporary Art (SECCA).
The project came to a halt in early April when principal contractor Lloyd Group entered voluntary administration.
It's believed SECCA was within weeks of being completed when work stopped on the $3.6million project.
Councillors on Monday gave approval for the council to assume the role of principal contractor and to conduct negotiations with the subcontractors and suppliers who had already been working on the project to see what was required to finish the job.
They acknowledged there could be some risk to council in proceeding in this fashion, not least of which was concern over the budget.
In answering a question from Cr Mitch Nadin, director of assets and operations Ian Macfarlane said there was still some $670,000 from the original budget commitment remaining, as well as two bank guarantees of a further $101,000 if required.
However, no-one was willing to offer an estimate of the costs of outstanding works to indicate if the remaining funds would cover it, nor commit to a timeframe for completion.
"We have an idea from contractors of what work remains to be done," Mr Macfarlane said, "but we will have to go back to each sub-contractor and supplier before confirming the final cost of that work."
Cr Nadin said he was all for reconfirming commitment to the upgrade of the regional gallery "at best value for money" as per the staff recommendation - "but how do you do that without a competitive quote process?"
Cr Nadin foreshadowed a motion saying that "instead of writing a blank cheque", it would be more prudent to seek further quotes through a competitive process and return to a council meeting for discussion and approval of the tenders.
"Anything else is financially negligent and does a disservice to our ratepayers," he said.
However, in response, councillors including mayor Russell Fitzpatrick said they had complete trust in the staff and CEO's abilities to conduct the contractor negotiations with the "best value for money" front of mind.
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While they agreed the "original vision" of the redeveloped SECCA was important, several councillors acknowledged there may need to be concessions made, or elements of the final build - like landscaping - delayed in order to see it completed as soon as possible.
Councillors voted in favour of the staff recommendation 6-2, with Cr Nadin and David Porter against, and Joy Robin absent.
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