​Kincardine okays Station Beach boardwalk tender despite over-budget by $237,000

Kincardine council has given the green light to the boardwalk project at Station Beach, despite it being over-budget by $237,000.

In a report to council, at its meeting Wednesday night (Oct. 22), parks and facilities manager Mike Di Giovanni stated that Phase 1 of the boardwalk reconstruction was approved in the 2025 capital budget. The project went to tender in August but there were no bids. So, staff conducted an invitational bid process with contractors and received only one compliant bid, Oct. 6.

The total price to proceed with the entire scope of the project was $904,819 exclusive of HST and engineering fees. Including $66,000 for engineering costs, the total comes to $987,000, which is $237,000 over the budget of $750,000.

Di Giovanni said negotiations with the contractor included options to reduce the scope of the project in order to bring down the price. However, he said that reducing the scope of the reconstruction would delay portions that will need to be rebuilt as part of Phase 2, increasing the cost of that phase.

Phase 1 of the project consists of reconstructing about 430 metres of boardwalk with the approved concrete and wooden design, as well as replacement of the boardwalk lighting system and changes to the orientation of the boardwalk that will move sections away from the dunes toward the parking area. It also includes the formalization of four modular wooden access points that will provide access to the beach. At the March 26 council meeting, staff was directed to proceed with a wooden boardwalk that featured stamped concrete access points to the parking area.

Staff has requested that all hard-scaping for this project be completed by May 15, 2026, while plantings and seeding will be completed by Nov. 1, 2026, said Di Giovanni. This will ensure that the boardwalk is complete before the long weekend in May, for the summer season. The contractor is expected to begin work this fall and continue, so long as the winter weather conditions will allow.

“I support moving ahead with this project,” said councillor Bill Stewart. “It needs to be done. There’s no point in delaying it another year or two. I am disappointed there were no bidders when it went to tender.”

Council agreed to award the project to Allen-Hastings Ltd., in the amount of $920,744 (inclusive of the applicable HST), and to increase the budget for the project by $237,000, to be funded from the Lifecycle Reserve Fund, for a total cost of $987,000.