Kincardine council has awarded a contract for the Station Beach Boardwalk project.
Allen-Hastings Ltd. will be completing the work.
The project has a total budget of $987,000.
Luke Bedard, Director of Community Services says that the scope of the project is more than just replacing boards on the boardwalk.
Per the report completed by municipal staff, Phase 1 consists of reconstructing approximately 430m of boardwalk with the approved concrete & wooden design. The phase will also see the replacement of the boardwalk lighting system as well as changes to the orientation of the boardwalk that will move sections away from the dunes toward the parking area.
Phase 1 also includes the formalization of 4 modular wooden access points that will provide access to the beach.
As for the cost of the project, council had approved an initial budget of $750,000 for Phase 1 of the project, however through he bid process, found that both phases of the proposed changes couldn’t be done for less than the $987,000 put forward.
Some of the funding will be taken from the Lifecycle Reserve Fund to bolster the available funding from $750,000 to the recommended $987,000.
“The original budget of $750,000… neither myself, nor the manager of Parks and Facilities have the background knowledge of exactly where that came from,” explained Bedard. “We believe that that was an estimate from the engineering firm on the project scope before any concrete was added or any changes were made. To my understanding, there was a lot of discussion at the council level of project scope changes.”
Council was given the option of moving forward with the rehabilitation project price tag of $987,000, but they were also provided two options that would pare down the scope of the work.
Council had decided to stick with the full project, which included a second phase and was projected to take the next two summers to complete.
“Phase Two we’d like to bring forward in future budgets, to have the parking around Station Beach redesigned, as well of having the existing part, which is now the north end, bring that forward for construction, and then have a uniform look,” said Bedard.
The consensus from council was that it was worth completing all of the proposed work over the prescribed timeline.
Councillor Rory Cavanagh also said that he was hoping to have the work completed ahead of the Kincardine Reunion, which is scheduled for August 2028.