CHRIS LOWREY
QUYON Dec. 12, 2018
A dispute between the Municipality of Pontiac and the builder responsible for the Quyon Community Centre has been solved, according to Mayor Joanne Labadie.
“It’s all resolved now,” Labadie said.
“There was a debate, that’s for sure,” she continued. “It’s one of the reasons why the project was delayed.”
The dispute between the municipality and Lalonde Cantin Construction was cost related, Labadie said.

She said that the project had a very tight mandate and there was no contingency budget for the project.
The project’s cost was set at $1.5 million and Labadie said council was adamant that it be finished on budget.
“There were some bills that [the builder] wanted over and above some expenses and we refused to negotiate on them and said ‘No, they were part of the project,’ and we asked that they respect the budget,” Labadie said.
As a result, progress on the community centre waned.
“They kind of slowed down a bit,” Labadie said. “Eventually we did come to a mutual agreement. The project is on budget.”
She said the municipality will take possession of the community centre this week.
Labadie said the kitchen facilities still need to be installed along with water and sewer connections.
“Once we have the keys then we can have our contractor go in and install the kitchen,” she said.
Labadie said the equipment for the kitchen has been ready to be installed since early September.
“But because of this dispute [the builder wasn’t] handing the keys over until they completed the project,” she said.
The municipality wants the kitchen to be certified by MAPAQ as a commercial kitchen.
Only food prepared in a commercial kitchen can be sold by a business, so the goal is to help local entrepreneurs.
The only other outstanding task for the community centre is the landscaping – something Labadie said will be looked after in the coming year with the help of community groups.