City of Powell River councillors have approved a $400,000 expenditure for the city’s sea walk restoration project.
At the May 5 city council meeting, councillors voted to appropriate the funds from the Canada Community-Building Fund. The money will match a $400,000 contribution pledged by Powell River Community Forest to bring the sea walk back to the condition the path was in before it was damaged by high tides and high winds in January of this year.
Councillor Jim Palm said after the sea walk was damaged, it was brought back to walkable condition afterward, so it could be used.
“It’s not ideal but it’s at least usable in the interim,” added Palm. “Now, we are moving forward to restore this, not only to its original condition, but even better, by raising it to compensate for the rising tides we are seeing in our waters.
“I’m happy to report the $400,000 coming from the community building fund will be matched by our community forest board, who are always ever-present to help out our community in this regard.”
Palm outlined the timeline for the project. He said permitting, with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the archaeological branch, will take place from May through August, with contractor selection taking place in September, slope stabilization also in September, and resurfacing, hopefully, by October.
Councillor Cindy Elliott said the sea walk is incredibly popular in the community.
“The plan is to raise it higher to make it impervious to future rising waters and weather events that caused this problem last winter,” said Elliott. “Planning for the future and global warming, now that the oceans are rising, with infrastructure that is important to us, is a good idea and I support the refurbishing.
Council carried the motion for the expenditure unanimously.
According to a staff report, the second phase of the project, which council voted for, aims to bring the asset back to pre-damage condition, but raised higher so it can withstand more severe weather and tidal events, lasting long into the future. The report stated that work will concentrate on stabilizing the slope on the ocean side, raising the trail one guard rock high, laying ground pipe, then finally resurfacing the trail to bring back access for those of varying abilities.
