OPINION: Council somewhere between a rock and a hard place
IF YOU run a company with an annual budget of more than $30 million and you have a project blowout of close to $100,000 the stomach acids might not rise.
But when the business is a council whose budget is made up of ratepayers' money then that blowout can cause a bit of indigestion - at least among the ratepayers.
And when the council's budget is struggling - and has been for some time - the loss of $100,000 is something that asks a number of questions. But the biggie is: Why?
We read today that the Southern Downs Regional Council sought to replace an aging water main that supplies water to one of Warwick's biggest employers - the John Dee Abattoir.
The council's engineers would have assessed the project, understood what was involved, deliberated on it, set a price, then hit the go button.
The Golf Links Water Main project was expected to cost $320,000.
But it didn't.
It cost $415,000.
The blowout has alarmed some councillors who say the problems should have been anticipated.
And the knock-on effect means that money has had to be found by putting on hold another project.
Cr Ross Bartley has called for a review of the way these council jobs are costed.
Good call. Now where did we put the Alka Seltzer?
