A section of boardwalk trail destroyed by fire in 2018 is getting rebuilt this summer.
Councillor Mariane McLeod asked for an update on the project during yesterday’s council meeting.
About 100 feet of boardwalk trail was burned when a fire broke out on May 9, 2018. The fire started because of a bonfire lit in an adjacent field.
Dean Collver, acting executive director of corporate and customer service, said there were some issues with the tender process, but the town has received bids and is working on developing a contract with the selected bidder.
In August 2018, Collver told council the boardwalk replacement work would take place in the spring of 2019.
It took longer than expected to hear back from the town’s insurance company, and the project grew in the meantime.
Part of the delay was the inclusion of an extension of the boardwalk into the west harbour.
An anonymous donor came forward in 2019 offering $100,000 if the town would also replace the boardwalk and gazebo that extends into the west harbour off the boardwalk trail.
The town is getting $66,000 from its insurance company because the boardwalk was lost in a fire. So the town is putting in about $73,000 for the entire project.
Collver said yesterday work will take place this summer to replace the boardwalk trail.
However, work on the extension will wait until winter.
According to Collver, cheapest way to get the extension into the harbour done was to wait for ice cover and build it over the ice. Collver noted there wasn’t any ice cover there this winter, but he’s hopeful there will be next winter.
