At its last meeting the Waikato District’s Councillors delegated authority to proceed with replacement Kopua Footbridge to the WDC Policy committee. Council GM, Richard Bax has advised that the preferred contractor is HEB Structures at a cost of $2.65 million. HEB Structures is based in Mount Manganui. So everything seems set for the Policy Committee to approve the replacement bridge at its meeting on Monday the 13th September. This is even before the hearing for the resource consent application is heard. And a long list of questions remain unanswered about the replacement bridge:
- Council must be feeling very pleased about getting a $2.65m contract after its engineers said it could be $3.4m. Are such variations normal?
- Does $2.65m include all contingencies, or could it still cost more?
- It still amounts to over $2000 for each Raglan ratepayer, or $140 extra on the rates each year at current interest rates. How will it be paid for?
- Will the spending on the bridge, museum and wharf leave enough money to sort out the Whale Bay sewage problem?
- Wwhy not repair the present bridge at a cost of about $25000 a year instead of interest charges of $180,000 a year?
- Was a cost benefit study done to compare the merits of rebuilding and repairing?
- If the Policy Committee approves the contract on Monday will that prevent the council to be elected next month stopping the project?
- Is there any provision in the contract for local labour to be sought?
- What is expected construction timetable to be?
- How long will the walkways and the beach be closed?
- Why has the council adopted guidelines recommending a width of 3m and then decided on 2.2m for a new heavily used bridge?
- How hard will it be to jump from the new bridge?
- Who suggested a picture of children jumping as one of the iconic scenes to advertise Raglan on the sides of the bus?
- With the bridge costing less than the allocated budget, will it be possible to provide a diving platform with the spare money?
- Will the bridge construction be going on at the same time as the museum construction?
- What will be the total traffic for both projects?
- Could the wharf rebuilding be happening at the same time?
- If sea level rises so much, could it undermine the new museum and leave the bridge as a pier to nowhere?
- Will the rebuilt walkway on the Raglan side have a safety rail, or will the main access be from Wi Neera St?
- Has an arborist advised whether it is possible to prune the pohutukawas to the extent needed to provide clearance for the raised walkway?