By Cecilia Nasmith
Getting a break on the budget is always welcome news, both for individuals and for upper-tier municipalities like Northumberland County.
At April's county council meeting, Public Works Manager of Infrastructure Dan Campbell shared the news of a roads project that will cost the county only about 51% of what it budgeted.
The project is County Road 42, which was due for rehabilitation work. Much of the work would have been done in Peterborough County, but 3.07 km. of this work takes place on the boundary of Northumberland County. A cost-sharing agreement was worked out for this portion, and Northumberland budgeted $1.4-million to pay its share.
The lowest qualified bidder turned out to be Coco Paving, and Northumberland's share turned out to be $718,000.
“That's substantial savings, based on the rehabilitation method chosen,” Campbell said.
County council passed a motion authorizing payment of up to $718,000 for its share of the project.
As for the rest of the money budgeted, $76,000 will be put towards the 2022 microsurfacing program and $605,000 will remain in the transportation budget to assist with 2022 capital works projects as may be necessary.
