Town Approves $12,000 Contract for Design of Wetland Boardwalk at Irwin

Town officials this month approved a $12,000 contract with an Avon-based firm to design a proposed new boardwalk in Irwin Park.

The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with Richter & Cegan at its Feb. 7 meeting. 

The company had done “the original master plan and did the original Flexi-pave trail so they’re intimately involved or aware of the park itself,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference.

He added that the boardwalk—planned for the southwest corner of the Weed Street park—had been part of the original larger plan but was removed for monetary reasons.

“This was actually in the first part of the master plan that was there, and then when we did the trail work initially, we took that out as a ‘value engineering’ portion of the project,” Mann said.

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the contract.

The selectmen had approved an approximately $13,000 contract for the project last fall.

Corbet asked what had already been done on the project and what was left.

Mann said that the survey has been done, including wetlands flagging, and then there’s a schematic design “and from that we’ll come up with exactly what it’s going to look like.”

“Then we’ll go to what is called ‘design development,’ which is one more phase, and then go to construction,” he said.

Corbet asked how much the project would cost all-in. Mann said there’s $175,000 in the DPW budget for it.

“We’re hoping to stay at that level,” he said.