The price tag for the Lake Miona Walking Trail has swollen from $430,000 to $760,000.
Last summer, the Project Wide Advisory Committee decided to green light the Lake Miona Walking Trail which would offer a picturesque walk for Villagers along the Black Lake Preserve. The 6-foot-wide nature path would be a 1.3-mile roundtrip, out and back.
The original estimate for the project was $150,000. By this past July, it had grown to $430,000. The PWAC board learned Monday that price tag is now $760,000.
“Ouch!” said PWAC Chairman Don Wiley upon hearing the news from Bruce Brown of District Property Management.
“I am not sure we would get our money’s worth at this price,” Wiley added
PWAC member Don Brozick said he feared the cost of the project could climb even higher.
“I’m just not comfortable with this,” he said.
However, PWAC member Peter Moeller, who originally envisioned the project more than a decade ago, said waiting wouldn’t necessarily improve the situation.
“As it moves on, it’s just going to get more expensive,” said Moeller, a resident of the Village of Caroline.
Moeller said the Lake Miona Walking Trail would be a new amenity and something “unique” for residents between State Road 44 and County Road 466.
PWAC members decided to ask District Property Management to work with bidders to see if any savings could be found in the project. The committee agreed to revisit the topic next month.