It could cost $30,000 to build a ramp to a beach in the Decourcy triangle at Twin Beaches the Gabriola Parks and Open Spaces Committee (POSAC) was told at their Feb. 2 meeting.

The committee had asked staff to investigate the cost of building such a ramp at their inaugural meeting in Sept. 2009 when residents of the area pleaded with POSAC members to replace beach stairs that had been removed by the Ministry of Transportation because the stairs were deemed dangerous.

RDN Parks Planner Lesya Fesiak reported that it would only cost $2,600 to install a railing that staff had originally proposed for access to a different beach in the same area. However neighbours said at the Sept. meeting that the beach access for which the railing was intended was difficult to get to, whereas the location where they wanted “three easy stairs” to be built was much more accessible. POSAC members then proposed that the location would be a good one for a wheelchair ramp.

Fesiak said stairs to the beach would cost $10,000 to install, noting that the surface is the problem as stairs would have to be built over loose rocks. She also noted that the slope is very gentle, and should be fairly easy to get down without stairs or ramps.

Regional Director Gisele Rudischer said that $30,000 was an outrageous amount of money for a ramp, and Chair Tom Cameron said that he would like to see a detailed estimate of the cost.

Cameron said that the location is one of the best accesses for handicapped on the island, and that even if the cost to install a ramp was high, it might be possible to raise the money for it from somewhere else than Gabriola parks budget.

Rudischer said that there are a number of projects that need to be dealt with, and the committee would have to prioritise what projects would be done.