Burnaby’s city manager may get a six-month extension on a COVID-era expansion of his spending power.
Back in March, as the city was closing its doors to visitors and moving meetings online, city council voted unanimously and without comment to double Lambert Chu’s spending power. Previously, Chu has been able to authorise spending of up to $500,000 without taking the issue before council.
Now, under the temporary expansion, Chu can approve up to $1 million in spending without requiring the blessing of council.
The current bylaw expanding Chu’s spending power expires on Sept. 27, according to a report to the city’s finance committee.
Between March 27 and Sept. 1, Chu has approved 12 transactions, from contract increases to contract extensions to new contracts. Those approvals ranged from $247,162 to $858,291, according to the staff report, which included a list of all the approved transactions.
Nearly all of the transactions exceeded the usual $500,000 limit, with only two approvals falling below that point.
The highest-cost item was to approve, on June 22, a booster pump for Burnaby Mountain, which services water and sanitary sewer for the SFU campus.
The second most costly item was to give final approval for a drug processing facility for the Burnaby RCMP, at close to $691,000 – though that item had already been approved by council.
The remaining items include a road improvement program ($661,000), a sewer main reline ($590,000), a $569,000 extension for supply and delivery of asphalt (project total: $2.6 million), RCMP building HVAC upgrades ($554,000), a $550,000 increase for tires and related services (project total: $2.2M), a staircase renovation ($548,000), a $542,000 increase to the Laurel Street works yard redevelopment (project total: $4.1M) and a pressure-reducing valve at the Horizons Restaurant ($501,000).
The two remaining approvals, between $247,000 and $386,000, were originally approved by the city manager, and the more recent approvals brought the projects above the usual $500,000 threshold.
Those purchases were for cement and a wheelchair ramps and bus stop program.
The item will be heard at this week’s finance committee to be forwarded to a council meeting either on Sept. 14 or Sept. 28. If approved, the spending power would run until March 28, 2021.
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