The District of Sechelt is "a couple days" away from obtaining a Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) cost estimate for a Davis Bay seawalk expansion project - information that will allow the municipality to fix a date for a public meeting to explain the project and seek input.
At its meeting Sept. 15, council passed a motion approving a contentious highway-widening plan on conditions that a traffic light be installed at the Davis Bay Road intersection and that council undertake "to expand the seawalk for the length of the construction zone when required permits are in place."
Sechelt chief administrative officer Rob Bremner said at Wednesday's committee of the whole that talks with MOTI are going well and that the District expects to have cost estimates shortly for the seawalk expansion. Bremner said prior to seeing those estimates, it's hard to know how much of the tab the District would need to pick up.
"If this comes out at $500,000 or $600,000 it might be 50 per cent each, we might split the cost down the middle," he said in an interview after the meeting, noting that MOTI wants its $2.5 million budget to cover the Davis Bay improvements plus some Selma Park shoulder-widening. "We don't want to take all the money out of shoulder-widening just to build the boardwalk and neither does our council obviously."
Besides a cost estimate, Bremner said the District hopes to have renderings of what the project might look like available at the public meeting.
Bremner added during the meeting that he's cautiously optimistic about receiving the necessary Department of Fisheries and Oceans approvals for the seawalk, noting that MOTI has stated that it will "lead the charge" on the approvals-seeking process.
"There certainly isn't anything jumping out that would suggest that it can't be done," he said.
During the meeting, councillors Keith Thirkell and Warren Allan expressed misgivings about the Davis Bay improvements, however Mayor Darren Inkster and Coun. Fred Taylor emphasized that Sechelt has had these plans -including the extra lane at Davis Bay Road - in municipal plans going back to 2006.
"This has been part of a multi-council decision-making process for the same design and all we're trying to do now is ameliorate it, make it more acceptable, and use the money that's come forward," Taylor said. "So people pretend this is like a brand new debate and a surprise and it really isn't. It's been an ongoing discussion at Sechelt council for many, many years."
Editor's note: Coast Reporter would like to correct information that appeared in the Sept. 17 edition (council votes to widen highway and expand seawalk). The story incorrectly stated that Coun. Thirkell abstained from voting on a Sept. 15 motion to accept the highway-widening plan on conditions that a Davis Bay Road traffic light be installed and that council undertake to expand the sea walk; Thirkell in fact voted against the motion. Coast Reporter apologizes for the error.
