Plans to redevelop Shelburne’s Fiddle Park approved by council

Written By PAULA BROWN

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

The Town of Shelburne is moving forward with plans to upgrade Fiddle Park. 

During a special meeting on Friday (June 6), Shelburne Town Council approved the tendering for the Fiddle Park upgrades. The tender for the project was awarded to Mono-based company TDI Land Restoration/XGD for a total of $2,399,645.82. 

“We got excellent remarks back on their workmanship as well as quality, how they dealt with contracts and projects. I think one of the advantages here is this is actually a local firm… that's been here since the 80s. Their expertise is in this type of project,” said Stephen Burnett, principal of S. Burnett & Associates Limited (SBA) and the municipality's contract engineer.  

According to the report, a request for tender was uploaded to Merx and Biddingo and the Town of Shelburne's website on May 7 with a total of 55 contractors and suppliers downloading the document. The Town of Shelburne received a total of six bids for the project by the closing date of May 28. 

“TDI was the lowest qualified bidder having submitted through the Tendering process,” reads a letter from S. Burnett & Associates Limited. “SBA has completed a reference check on TDI and would consider this company capable of completing the Fiddle Park Upgrade Project with positive results.”

TDI Land Restoration is based in Mono and specializes in projects such as golf construction, land restoration, boardwalk construction, quarry restoration and excavation services. The company has previously completed similar projects for other municipalities in the surrounding areas as well as for the City of Guelph, the City of Markham, and the Town of Collingwood. 

Work that will be completed by TDI Land Restoration will include site preparation and servicing, professional fees, building a basic grass parking lot, pedestrian circulation and accessibility improvements, a multi-functional trail, amphitheatre and pavilion improvement, overall site furnishings, shade structures, overall tree planting, and a basketball court. 

The tender does not include the proposed playground structure included in the Fiddle Park Plan, as it was part of a separate request for proposal and has already been awarded. 

Coun. Walter Benotto questioned the possibility of prioritizing the construction of the full basketball court after seeing high demand for utilization at the Greenwood Park court. 

Burnett said that even if the basketball court was prioritized, they would likely not have the area accessibility to the community due to both a “risk liability and insurance perspective.”  

Coun. Len Guchardi questioned if there were any plans for introducing enhanced security at Fiddle Park during the construction process and once the project has been completed. 

“We are going to add some more cameras in there to get full sight of the site. We do have the one at the dog park and one at the community garden, so we're just going to add on to those with more cameras around the building, the amphitheater and the playground as well,” said Will Thomson, manager of operations for parks and facilities. 

Councillors also asked about the specific trees that will be planted at the park, which was said to include trees from the town's native species list and those that would provide canopy enhancement for shade.

The majority of the funding for the Fiddle Park restoration project is coming from development charges as well as a few items covered through the town's parks and recreation reserves.

Carey Holmes, the Town of Shelburne's director of financial services, told Council that none of the funding for the project is coming from the tax base. 

The Town of Shelburne is planning to post a sign at Fiddle Park with an overview of the schematics for the restoration project as well as key milestones in the process. Progress reports will also be available on the town's website.