Yates will open construction bids this morning on $2.5 million town park upgrade
This design by the MRB Group in Rochester shows the layout of an improved Yates Town Park.
YATES – Town officials will open construction bids this morning at 10 for an upgrade of the Town Park on Morrison Road. The park is along Lake Ontario.
The state is paying 95 percent of the costs of the project estimated at $2.531 million or $2,404,450. It is part of $300 million in state funding for projects along the southshore of Lake Ontario. (Click here to see a bigger map of the project.)
The local share of the Yates project – $126,550 – will be covered with $26,550 of in-kind services by the town Highway Department and $100,000 in funding by the Lyndonville Area Foundation.
The town is eyeing completion of the project in next September. It would be a big highlight for Yates as the town celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2022, Town Supervisor Jim Simon said.
After the bids are opened today, they will be reviewed by the town’s engineering firm, MRB Group in Rochester, and then come back to the Town Board for a vote.
During a Town Board workshop meeting on Tuesday, Simon told the other board members the project is on pace to be complete in about a year.
“It’s going really well,” Simon said about the project. “There are no hiccups that I am aware of.”
Photo by Tom Rivers: This photo from Oct. 23, 2019 shows some of the tables along the shoreline at the Yates Town Park.
Some highlights of the project and the estimated costs include an L-shaped breakwater at $640,000; pavilion with bathroom and fire place, $394,000; park activities (kayak boat launch, dock ramp, ADA compliant playground), $266,000; road, parking, pavement, $95,000; stone dust trail with benches, garbage can, bike rack and plantings, $75,000; stormwater, $56,000; electrical, $42,000; erosion control, $41,000; sanitary/leach field, $31,000 and water service, $20,000.
Engineering costs also are estimated at $372,000, with legal and administration fees at $93,000.
Annual operation and maintenance costs with the added amenities are estimated at $3,000 for water and electric service, insurance, bathroom cleaning and septic tank costs and other operation, maintenance costs. However, the town will save $1,500 annually by not needing portable bathrooms at the park. So the net increased operation and maintenance costs will be $1,500 or an additional penny on the town tax rate, according to the town’s calculations.
Simon believes the park will improve the quality of life in the community, improve health and wellness, and boost property values in that part of the community. It could also draw visitors to the community as the only town park along the Lake Ontario shoreline in Orleans County.
Simon said he would like to see the community eventually work to put in sidewalks from north of the village on Route 63 to the Town Park. That would be an ideal link between the village and park for walkers, joggers and cyclists, Simon said.
