Everything has a lifespan that eventually will call for change and the municipal hamlet office in Rankin Inlet is no exception.

Rankin Inlet Senior Administrative Officer Darren Flynn said the hamlet's number-one priority for years is the replacement of the existing municipal office, which is 50+ years old and has considerable issues.

Flynn said, obviously, it needs to be significantly bigger to accommodate the workers the hamlet has.

鈥�Right now, because we have it maxed out, even the mayor doesn't have a proper physical office here and that in itself should be key,鈥� said Flynn.

鈥�Meeting space being what it is, less than adequate, and, with the growth in the community, there's definitely a need for our space to be replaced or enlarged to help facilitate better growth in the community and house more people to be able to do the services that are expected.

鈥�With the way prices have been, inflation wise, I would imagine the cost would be fairly significant. I can't recall exactly what the new office in Arviat cost, but I believe that was somewhere north of $13 million when it was built at the time.鈥�

Flynn said costs are also associated with the amount of air handling, air quality, and all the different standards that have to be met.

He said that will add significantly to the cost and certainly with mechanical issues.

鈥�One thing that was never thought of when this building was built was a proper communications room where you would put your telephone system and your information-technology system," he said. "Essentially it sits in a storage closet, which is in no way adequate.

鈥�Everything that's in there you need digitized and computerized.鈥�

Flynn said the hamlet has been pushing the Government of Nunavut (GN) for upgrades to the building for at least the past decade.

He said it hasn't advanced because there have been a lot of other issues that have gone on, including the investment required in the water and sewer structure in the community.

"Council was willing to let this thing sit back, so that those dollars could be invested in making sure we had adequate water-and-sewer supplies to service the town and its growth," he said.

Flynn has been in municipal government in various roles since 1994 and from what he's seen in the past, he said other communities have waited 10 years or longer.

"It all goes come down to prioritization," he said. "When you're faced with limited resources, you have to try and tackle the biggest priorities and, obviously, clean water, health and safety are always first and foremost.

"Arguably, one could say health and safety in municipal offices is huge also and that's true. However, when you stack it up against water supply for a town of about 3,500 people, that obviously becomes a bigger priority.

"Maybe it's my experience at the municipal level that, in my current life, having a full understanding of how the process works, you understand what priorities are.

"It's like everything else in life: if your kids need new pants, it makes sense that you go and buy them new pants, as opposed to going out and buying yourself a $25,000 Rolex watch.鈥�

Flynn said the council does update its capital planning or request list every year.

He said when opportunity presents itself, the mayor presents that to other levels of government, saying there's a need for this to be done. 

"Apart from that, not being a tax-based community, we don't have the ability to go out and finance infrastructure on our own, so we are still dependent on the government for that capital investment," he said. 鈥淭he hamlet council worked with the GN and found a way to get this to move forward, so, again, with the office, or any other piece of infrastructure we're trying to replace, we do try our best to work with the government and identify when's a good time to get it.

鈥淚 don't know that I necessarily think pressure is always the way of doing it. I think collaboration goes further than aggravation.鈥�

Flynn said just this past summer, council had a firm come in and do a full evaluation of the building and that renovations or construction of a new municipal building is in the planning cycle. 

He just doesn't know where in the planning cycle.

鈥淎ll the assessments that need to be done 鈥� it's not just a matter of us standing up and saying, 'Hey, we don't like the building we're in and it's way too small'," he said. 鈥淲e're still waiting the outcome of that on the planning cycle and we'll get a copy of that report probably later on this spring.鈥�

Flynn said he hasn't seen the finalized report on it, but knowing how the planning cycle works for a project that has size and magnitude, they'd have to do the planning, followed by a tender, a procurement, and then actual construction.

鈥淓ven if the government came out today and announced that yes, we have identified this as a project that's going ahead, realistically, it would probably be five years before you ever saw occupancy, at the earliest," he said. 鈥淭hat's not uncommon with anything else. You can even look at housing projects. You have piles go down one year and then the following year, you see stuff coming in on the sea lift and it may get started before winter sets in. If not, then it doesn't start until the following year.

鈥淥ur building does need to be upgraded or replaced. Until then, we make sure we keep the safety standards up to date, and I'm sure it will continue to serve us and keep the rain off our heads until the day we finally get news of renovations or the construction of a new building being started.鈥�