Signs advising “use at own risk” have been at the Hopkins Landing public docking facility since mid-April. On June 15, the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s (SCRD) electoral services committee will debate an estimated $520,000 structural and safety repair job and keeping the facility closed while that work is done.
Staff’s advice in a report on the meeting’s agenda is a temporary closure to protect public safety and limit liability exposure for the SCRD, a position supported by an engineering consultant and the region’s Ports Monitors Advisory Committee. While work timelines are contingent on board approval of the project, the availability of contractors and materials and other factors, they state repairs could take “at least 12 months” to complete. The earliest date any committee’s recommendation could be considered at a regular board meeting is June 22.
What repairs are needed?
The document outlines findings from an engineering consultant’s condition assessment which indicated the facility is “structurally unreliable for public assembly." That report, provided to the SCRD in April, prompted the posting of the current warning signage, which is visible from the land and water approaches to the site.
Of greatest concern to the contractor was the deteriorated condition of the understructure of the approach and wharfhead. In addition, the assessment advised that bearing piles, concrete and mooring piles, cross braces, timber guards and float flanges require attention within a year.
Removal of the mooring dolphins around the facility was also recommended by the contractor. The staff report states those are also “not considered safe for public usage” given the danger that battered pilings below water pose to people jumping off the wharf structure.
Along with the estimated half million dollars in emergency repairs, staff are seeking a budget of up to $10,000 to put any temporary closure in place, to cover costs such as barricading access.
More costs are on the horizon at the site, as the assessment identified that structure-bearing piles, handrails, guardrails, decking and stringer hardware should be repaired within the next six years. The assessment estimated the current pricing for that work at $400,000.
Hopkins area resident and dock user Trevor Lavender told Coast Reporter by email the facility “has lived through the worst of storms pretty much unscathed and it is an important evacuation point should we have, say a major fire on the coast." While a temporary closure for repairs may be inconvenient, he indicated neglecting that work or a permanent closure would be “devastating not only to the local community but all who use it."
Funding options
Staff are suggesting elected officials dip into the $5.4 million of Growing Communities (Gas Tax) funding the local government has on hand for two-thirds of the Hopkin’s emergency repair. They recommend the rest of the repair money and the closure costs come out of the port's function capital reserve.
More than $1 million is available in the port reserve, according to the staff report. Given costing for future work at Hopkins and upgrades that are anticipated to be identified in assessments on four other area ports slated for 2023, “there is likely more future funding demands than available reserve balance," the report states.
