District of Sooke council came back early from summer vacation last week to tidy up a few issues centering around the roundabout project.
The first item before council was resurfacing of Brownsey Boulevard to Goodmere Road.
The roundabout is opening up areas towards the harbour, said Mayor Maja Tait in explaining why this was before council at this time.
Finance director Michael Dillabaugh said the potential cost for resurfacing and paving five metres from Brownsey Boulevard to Goodmere Road was $60,000. Goodmere Road would be extended through to Brownsey Boulevard.
Council passed the motion to proceed with the interim paving on the right-of-way at the bottom of Brownsey Boulevard and the right-of-way on Goodmere Road be included. Any costs over $60,000 would be covered.
Coun. Kerrie Reay suggested a six-metre strip to allow the public access to the waterfront. Coun. Brenda Parkinson said this was an issue that could be brought up with the parks and trails committee.
Ornamental street lighting was also discussed. There are six potential locations for ornamental s-shaped lighting along Sooke Road at a cost of approximately $6,000 each.
Coun. Rick Kasper said it was too bad the lighting plan didn’t include lighting all the way from Otter Point to Church Road. The s-shaped streetlights at the roundabout will be MOTI lights and will not equipped with electricity for ornamental lighting,
“If we are spending $4-million on this project, I don’t want to see us nickel and dime it because of hydro,” said Kasper. He said if we were into this we should do it right and slap in a few extra lights.
The sidewalks being built are mostly three-metres wide with the exception of the corners around Otter Point Road, which are far narrower. There needs to be at least two-metre wide sidewalks to safely accommodate wheelchairs and scooters. Council passed the motion to place street lights in the proposed locations up to a maximum of 12 lights.
Dillabaugh stated the grant application for the Grant Road Connector was not successful and there was an “extra” $175,000 in the budget and this could be used to cover expenses and costs approved by council.