The cost of a retaining wall repair in Port Carling has risen and risen again, but Township staff said they’ve run out of options.
During the most recent Muskoka Lakes Township Council meeting, councillors agreed to award a contract for the project at $1.7 million to Bronte Construction. They also agreed to increase the overall budget to $1.8 million.
That estimate is considerably higher than the original, which was pegged at somewhere between $800,000 and $1.3 million when the project was first brought to council’s attention in January of this year.
Located on the north side of Medora Street, between Armstrong Point Road and Ferndale Road and below Pie Wood Fired PIzza Joint restaurant. The Township had built a sidewalk on a slope to facilitate pedestrian traffic on Medora Street. The sidewalk is supported by both an upper and lower retaining wall. In December, 2022 council was informed that a part of the upper retaining wall had failed and needed to be repaired. Consultants reviewed the wall and found it unstable and in need of temporary or permanent repairs for safety on the sidewalk and road.
Council received an updated estimate in May which now put the cost closer to $1.4 million. However, when the project actually went out for tender, the only bid received (from Bronte) came in at just under $1.8 million.
“I’m astounded at the cost involved here,” said Coun. Sally Moyer Kent, who questioned why only a signal bid had been received.
Director of Public Works Ken Becking said there were likely a number of factors at play including the labour shortage and capacity limits within the industry.
The project is slated to proceed in March 2024 and Becking urged council to accept the bid.
“This is not a game to play chicken at,” he said. “I won’t mislead anyone by saying there are no risks with the proposal. We’ve experienced the initial movements and failures in the wall. Since that time there have been no movements, however, that can change and it can change quite rapidly.”
Becking said the problem should have been dealt with years ago, but the Township had only recently begun keeping proper tabs on the infrastructure inventory.
“This is an example of how not to do something,” he said. “This should have been known five years ago.”
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