EHDC Committee Library Report: PENNS PLACE - USE OF MAINTENANCE RESERVE

Report No: R.30/01 - 05 December 2001 - Final Copy

Cabinet
PENNS PLACE - USE OF MAINTENANCE RESERVE
Report of Corporate Director (Business & Economy)

For Decision

Purpose of Report:

To seek agreement to the use of £48,500 of the Penns Place maintenance reserve on urgent works.

Recommendations:

That approval be given for the works identified in this report and listed in paragraph 3.2, costing £48,500 to be met from the Penns Place maintenance reserve.

Resourcing Implications:

Funds available in the reserve up to 31st March 2002, total £112,000. Commiting to the expenditure identified in the report, will leave an uncommitted balance of £63,500 in the fund.

Body of Report:

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Every year £50,000 is set aside to provide for long term maintenance expenditure at Penns Place which cannot be accommodated within the day-to-day repairs and maintenance revenue budgets.

1.2 This report identifies the most urgent of work that cannot be met from the revenue accounts and seeks authority to spend part of the maintenance reserve on these woks.

2.0 REQUIRED WORKS

2.1 South Block Rear Car Park

2.1.1 The car park and access road to the rear of the South Block is in very poor condition with several large pot holes which, although have recently had temporary repairs, are already starting to open up.

2.1.2 The access road and car parking area urgently need to be relaid and re-marked on health and safety grounds at an estimated cost of £40,000.

2.2 Major Renewals

2.2.1   In previous surveys and reports, the two heating boilers serving the North and Link Blocks have been identified as likely to need replacement. However, further advice from the manufacturers and the regular maintenance contractor indicated that the boilers themselves were sound and had a useful life of several more years but that the systems and controls needed substantial overhaul.    The burner units would also need replacement as parts in them were wearing out which would be very hard to replace separately due to their age and difficulty in obtaining spares.

2.2.2   The overhaul of systems and controls was undertaken during the Summer from maintenance budgets. At present one of the two burner units is working well but the other frequently fails to work without manual intervention. It is therefore proposed to replace this burner unit only at present, at a cost of £3,500.

2.2.3   Every year there is a programme of minor window repair and maintenance. With many of the windows approaching 30 years old, such repairs are becoming impractical and the results unsatisfactory in an increasing number of cases. In particular, there are a number of windows on the first floor of the South Block that need major overhaul and/or replacement at a total cost of £5,000.

3.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 There is an uncommitted balance of £62,000 in the Penns Place Renewals funds as at 31st March 2001 which, together with the contribution of £50,000 for 2001/02 makes the total available to £112,000.

3.2 The total cost of the works proposed in this report are :-

	£
South Block Car Park	40,000
North Block Burner Units	3,500
Window Overhaul/Replace	5,000
	48,500

3.3 Implementing all the works identified would leave a balance of £63,000 uncommitted for works in future years. A further report will be produced next year on future long term maintenance priorities at Penns Place.

Consultation:

Background Papers: