Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 14, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. * Annual Percentage Rate. ? OAC. Subject to change. Mortgages Starting at ( APR*) 2.24 happily mortgaged? Are you CITY & BUSINESS CITY EDITOR: PAUL SAMYN 697- 7292 city. desk@ freepress. mb. ca I winnipegfreepress. com THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012 B 1 E NGINEERS flagged problems with moisture and deteriorating concrete at the former Canada Post plant long before city officials determined it made financial sense to renovate the building into new police headquarters. Reports obtained through a Freedom of Information request reveal parts of the Canada Post office tower and mail plant suffer from inadequate drainage, corrosion and deterioration. A 2006 structural investigation of the former mail- processing plant documented cracks in unsound concrete and several instances where concrete bonds failed under stress tests. Another 2009 study found long- term deterioration had occurred in portions of the structural floor, and the building's exterior walls needed to be upgraded. The report said older buildings such as Canada Post do not have a way to regulate humidity, and adding interior insulation, air ventilation and humidity control can cause significant deterioration, reduce the efficiency of insulation and increase moisture on the walls. The city purchased the building from Canada Post in 2009 for $ 30 million after city real estate managers determined it would be cheaper to repair it than the crumbling facade of the Public Safety Building, the current police headquarters. Last year, city council approved additional spending after the cost of renovating the building rose $ 28 million - to $ 155 million from $ 127 million. Deepak Joshi, Winnipeg's chief operating officer, said city engineers reviewed all previous structural reports before the city decided to convert it into the new police headquarters. Joshi said " there were no surprises" and officials were well aware of the building's moisture problems and the need for major repairs. He said there was no way for officials to know how much work was required until construction began. The initial design suggested the city could manage moisture problems by sealing the building from the inside, but Joshi said it was later found Winnipeg could save money and extend the life of the building if the exterior of the building was sealed instead. The decision costs more money, he said, and contributed to the added cost of the project. " No matter how much analysis ( you do), unless you go into destructive investigation - which means tearing apart walls and determining what's behind the walls - it's very difficult," Joshi said. Winnipeg abandoned a plan to repair the limestone cladding on the existing Public Safety Building after the price tag ballooned due to the cost of moving police into secure, temporary offices in other buildings while the exterior was replaced. Joshi said the Canada Post building is structurally sound and the city's decision to renovate the building was not solely based on cost, noting the downtown location and the need to expand the size of police headquarters were also factors. He said the city will not pay more than $ 155 million for the project, as it has secured a " guaranteed maximum price." Construction of the new HQ is slated to be finished in late 2013. Canadian Taxpayers Federation Prairie director Colin Craig said the city and other governments must establish better contracts before moving ahead with major projects. He said Winnipeg should have secured a maximum price beforehand and asked Canada Post to look behind some walls to gauge the repair work needed. " Far too often when they go over budget, no one is held accountable," Craig said. " Everyone seems to shrug their shoulders and move on." jen. skerritt@ freepress. mb. ca E VERYONE can relax now. Well, maybe not everyone. Winnipeg police want you to know they are hot on the trail of what appears to be a ring of bike thieves. Although they didn't appreciate my writing about the case Tuesday, the suggestion being that by alerting the thieves, I've made finding them more difficult. More difficult? Let's just do a little backtracking here. Back to around noon last Saturday when four locked bikes were stolen from under an apartment fire escape in Fort Rouge. As it turns out, there are a lot more than four bikes involved in this investigation. And a lot more at stake for police. That's because of what happened after the four bikes were stolen and what a couple of patrol officers did - and didn't do - about it. What they did was respond promptly later that Saturday afternoon to the apartment of Rejean Robert and Brenda Harder, who were without their two bikes. Police responded because a witness had reported what he'd seen. The witness, a 32- year- old neighbour, not only saw what happened, he took photographs of the thieves in action and then followed two members of what appears to be a stolen- bike ring and chop- shop operation. The witness not only tracked the thieves to a walk- up apartment on Corydon Avenue near Confusion Corner, he recovered one of the four bikes and prevented another bike from being stolen by interrupting the theft in progress. Pretty impressive. But it was tracking them to the apartment that would turn out to be the big score. Because, the next day, using a lead provided by his good neighbour the witness, Robert went to the apartment block and recovered his fianc�e's bike. By that time, his bike - the one he used to get to work - was long gone. It was the block's caretaker who first led Robert to a basement locker full of bikes and bike parts and then took him upstairs where the caretaker knocked on a door behind which were more bikes and bike parts. Why would Robert put himself at risk like that? Because of what the two patrol officers didn't do after they responded to his home to take a report on Saturday. The officers didn't go to the apartment block on Corydon where the witness saw the thieves take their stolen bikes, one worth $ 700 and the other about $ 600. It was the patrol officer not following the lead to the apartment block on Corydon that outraged Robert and prompted him to contact the Free Press . " I told them I had the address," Robert recalled Wednesday when we spoke again. " And what they told me was they can't go knocking on doors." No? That's also what Winnipeg Police Service public information officer Const. Jason Michalyshen suggested to me when we spoke earlier this week, although he put it slightly differently. He said police can't go kicking in doors, at least not without a search warrant. " There's a process we have to follow." He said he understands the victim's frustration, but sometimes police can't act as quickly as they'd like to. " We can't snap our fingers," is how Michalyshen put it. All true, but not totally true. When I spoke to a former senior Winnipeg police officer, he said if the patrol officers had driven the six blocks from the scene of the theft to the Corydon apartment, they could have secured the scene and sought a search warrant. So, why didn't they go? Michalyshen said he didn't know. I asked him something else. According to Robert, the caretaker said he had reported suspicious activity at the apartment to police more than once, prior to last weekend. But police hadn't responded. I asked Michalyshen if he could verify that. He said he couldn't. What he could tell me, though, was that prior to last weekend, police in District 6 had been aware there had been a rash of stolen bikes in the Fort Rouge area. And beyond. Last month, Gord's Ski & Bike on Donald Street had been hit by professional thieves three times for a total of eight bikes, including a couple worth $ 8,000 each. And by Tuesday, when the column appeared, Robert quickly learned he wasn't alone because of Facebook messages from others in the neighbourhood who'd had bikes stolen. Were the two patrol officers aware there had been a rash of stolen bikes in the area? Michalyshen said he didn't know. What the WPS spokesman could tell me about how police handled the case was this: The officers in charge of the patrol officers who took Robert's report on Saturday are " very pleased" with the thoroughness of their work. And, police made no mistakes. But then, when do they ever? Or at least, ever admit they did? But we should give the last words to the victim. Words that cut through all the police we- don't- knows, to what Rejean Robert knows: " We had a witness, pictures, an address... what more do they need to help protect the property of citizens?" gordon. sinclair@ freepress. mb. ca GORDON SINCLAIR JR. City knew HQ issues But extent of moisture trouble only became clear during reno By Jen Skerritt Why police didn't bust bike thieves SUBMITTED PHOTO An artist's drawing of the new police headquarters. Its cost has swollen to $ 155 million. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Just hanging A dragonfly takes a break at the English Gardens in Assiniboine Park Wednesday. Dragonflies love to munch on mosquitoes and they can eat an amount of food equal to their weight in 30 minutes. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Rejean Robert, Brenda Harder B_ 01_ Jun- 14- 12_ FP_ 01. indd B1 6/ 13/ 12 9: 46: 29 PM ;