The historic Hawk Lake Log Chute won’t be getting its long-awaited makeover this year after all, with Algonquin Highlands council forced to delay the project.
Chris Card, the township’s parks, recreation and trails manager, told council at a Sept. 17 meeting two bids were received to rehabilitate the first of three sections of the damaged structure, though neither could proceed.
The first was disqualified due to “incomplete submission information,” Card said, while the second came in 200 per cent over budget. Council approved spending $94,000 to repair 50 per cent of the first section back in February.
“Because only one bid was received that was over budget, and that council is within a lame duck period, the only option is to cancel the call for tender,” Card said, noting he intends to put it back out for bids next year under direction of the new council.
When in a lame duck period, councils are prohibited from approving any new expenditures or incurring liabilities exceeding $50,000.
Card said even if the bid had come in on budget, there was no guarantee the project would have been done this year. Workers require water to be shutoff at the nearby Big Hawk Lake dam while repairing the structure, with Parks Canada offering one brief window that passed before the September meeting.
Further assessment of the second and third section of the log chute found them to be in complete disrepair, with several pieces breaking away and ending up downstream.
Card said Hawk River Construction had quoted $58,788 plus HST to remove the damaged sections, which council approved. The work began Monday (Sept. 28), with a shutoff of the waterflow at the dam taking place Tuesday. The township said resident may have noticed reduced flows along the Kennisis River from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Another shutoff is scheduled Thursday (Oct. 1), with the project wrapping Friday. There has been no public access to the log chute property all week.
With costs mounting, and a full replacement of the structure expected to cost more than $550,000, coun. Sabrina Richards suggested turning to the community to help fund whatever comes next.
“We had a report at our last meeting about sponsorship opportunities – this is one that would be very beneficial. A lot of the community wants [us] to restore the log chute, so participating in fundraising for it… is a really good opportunity for people,” she said.
Parking update
Public works director Adam Thorn presented two locations for enhanced parking in the area, with one site off Round the Bay Trail behind Big Hawk Lake Marina and the other on Big Hawk Lake Road adjacent to the log chute.
Coun. Sabrina Richards said something needed to be done to address parking in the area.
“It is chaos all the time, all summer long. It’s simply not acceptable municipal planning to let that continue. I don’t know how we’re going to get there, because we don’t have the money, but it’s something that community deserves,” Richards said.
Council learned last year it would cost between $1M and $1.5M to widen the road enough to create extra parking. Last week, council opted to move forward with a design plan for a lot off Round the Bay Trail for $15,000.
Thorn said there are two key stumbling blocks – the township doesn’t own any of the land, while the road itself is seasonal and not suitable for heavy traffic.
“We would have to do some major construction to the road… it would be an astronomical cost to build it up properly,” He said. “I have personally travelled up there… it’s not ideal for a parking lot. This is not [the site] I would recommend.”
Mayor Liz Danielsen asked Thorn to bring a range of options back to a future meeting – from maintaining the existing dirt trail and cutting down trees to make way for a parking lot, to paving everything. Thorn said it might be December before he has something prepared, noting he’ll be working with Tulloch Engineering on the project.
New CAO John Connolly said he would reach out to officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) after Danielsen raised concern over the price the township had been quoted for the Crown land – almost $150,000 to buy just over 16.5 acres on Big Hawk and at Fletcher Lake, or $18,000 a year to lease.
“To say I’m extremely disappointed… is an understatement. They’ve put us in this position, saying ‘here are some lovely docks and landings for you’, downloading them to us and now here we are not only having to experience extraordinary costs to repair the docks and landings, but now having to purchase land to be able to operate them adequately is out of sight,” the mayor said.
