The contract was awarded to lowest bidder Redwood Construction Ltd. at just over $2.4 million.
The community market will host the St. John’s Farmer’s Market as well as other community groups and vendors.
Coun. Tom Hann said $3 million had been budgeted for the development by the city and the provincial and federal governments.
“It came in at $2.4 million, so that means it’s a little under, and that doesn’t mean we are going to spend the rest of the money,” he said. “We were smart in terms of building the (new) Metrobus building and we were able to save close to $1 million there.
“This project is so exciting. We had a community meeting a few weeks ago and there wasn’t one objection. Everybody was welcoming to the redeveloping of the old Metrobus building and the fact that we will be reusing it for a good project.”
Construction is expected to start this summer and the community market ready to open by spring of 2018.
Proposed amendments to be re-evaluated
St. John’s city council has referred proposed amendments to the city’s election finance bylaw back to its finance committee for further evaluation.
The committee will review how the proposed amendments will align with other city bylaws and the province’s Municipal Elections Act.
In 2016, the provincial government amended the Municipal Elections Act to recognize contributions to candidates other than money, meaning contributions of goods and services are to be treated the same as contributions of money to a candidate.
Municipal elections are set for September.
Business owner’s case returns to court in July
Coun. Art Puddister requested an update from the city solicitor on a business owner who has been charged with violating city bylaws in relation to operating a business on his Brookfield Road property that is zoned residential.
At Monday’s regular St. John’s council meeting, Puddister said he has received complaints that the business owner is continuing to operate the property as a business.
The business owner had earlier applied to the city to rezone the area, but the request was denied.
The business owner faces charges of breaching city regulations and bylaws in connection with incidents and inspections that took place in November 2015.
The case is expected back in provincial court July 6.
Puddister asked that the city manager write to the business owner to ask him to abide by the city’s rules and regulations.
“If no satisfactory response is received, I will name the property owner at a future council meeting,” Puddister said.
Dog training facility approved
A discretionary use application submitted by Newfoundland Athletic Dog Associates for a dog training facility at 163 Doyle’s Rd. in St. John’s was approved during Monday’s city council meeting.
Hours of operation will be from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day, with classes during evenings and weekends only, while other times are reserved for association members to train their own dogs. Training classes will be 1-2 hours in duration, with eight classes per week for basic dog training, agility, fly ball and other dog sports. Regular classes will have a maximum of 15 dogs and four instructors. Special events may include up to 25 dogs.
The association received strong support on the application from members of the community.
