Over-budget bid for streetscaping project forces first tough decision for new Essex council

A Streetscape project along the main drag of the Town of Essex is in jeopardy after council learned Monday the bids came back more than 50 per cent over budget.

This time last year, the previous council approved moving forward with a total streetscape, including road paving, water main and storm sewer replacement, sidewalk reconstruction and beautification of Tablot Street North between Maidstone Avenue and Gosfield Townline.

It also includes road re-surfacing and multi-use trails along Victoria Avenue, with a budget of $9.4 million.

“But the tender has come in almost $4 million over budget. That's a lot,” said the town’s newly-elected mayor, Sherry Bondy. “We have to be cognizant of the amount of debt we're taking on.”

Inflation gets the blame and it’s hitting towns hard, forcing some difficult decisions about the price of progress.

The price of hot-mix asphalt alone has gone up 91 per cent, town staff told council Monday evening.

“We anticipated it to be a higher cost, definitely because of all the materials, be it hot asphalt, just the core infrastructure underneath, pipes, sewers, etcetera,” said the town’s chief administrative officer, Doug Sweet.

If council pushes forward as originally planned, this project alone would add about 4.4 per cent to residents’ property tax bills, according to a staff report.

“It's a real pickle and I'm glad I skipped dinner tonight before the meeting,” said Ward 1 Coun. Joe Garon, indicating his displeasure with the current cost of doing business.

The staff report also indicated doing the full streetscaping project would put the Town of Essex into a very risky financial position with a red-flag level of taxpayer-supported debt that would get the attention of the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs.

Administration presented four options, including outright cancelling the project. That’s a move the Business Improvement Association doesn’t support.

“You can’t let the road be full of potholes, you’ve got to get your services functioning,” said Greg Schinkel, who owns Schinkel’s Meat Market and sits on the BIA. “Maybe they're going to have to tweak it and maybe do a little less than they originally planned, or postpone it even longer.”

“But yes, it's been 10 years and it'd be nice for it to get done.”

Town staff recommends redefining the scope to overhauling just the town’s core area and Victoria Avenue.

“A little bit of a smaller scope, but within our budget, so we also want to be conscious and fiscally responsible of our debt level as well,” said CAO Sweet.

The town’s brand new council must make the decision by its next council meeting Dec. 19 in order to keep any grants and meet the 90-day tender window.

“We have a couple of weeks now to think about it, listen to the public talk to the businesses see what they want to do,” said Bondy. “And if we want to, we could potentially scale back the project so it's not really as big but it'll still be beautiful.”