Blake Ellis/The Independent

The Black Creek Bridge construction looms large for Enniskillen Township as it looks towards its 2026 budget.

Council is staring down a $2.4 million price tag for the replacement of the bridge, and so far there has been no financial help from the province.

This led Mayor Kevin Marriott to suggest at the Feb. 17 council meeting, that it might hold off on the bridge project for this year, depending on the results of the tenders, saying he didn’t like the thought of having the municipality borrow that much money.

“That it gives us another year for provincial grants, because right now we have nothing,” said Marriott.

“So it just buys us some time to push the province for money, because this is unprecedented. The township has never been up against a wall like this.”

Councillor Wally Van Dun agreed saying; “We should look at other things we are going to need for the township.”

He pointed to the purchase of vehicles, fire trucks and renovations as upcoming issues.

Van Dun doesn’t want to see the municipality push the Black Creek Bridge project over to the next year and then get hit with other costs from other priorities.

“We are holding off on bringing anything with budget until we know what the tenders are for this bridge,” said Enniskillen’s Administrator-Clerk Christine Poland, who expects to bring the tenders for council’s decision at its April 7 meeting.

“Until we see what this bridge comes in at. It’s a bit difficult to know this year what priorities might be.”

Poland pointed out delaying the project would mean some additional costs including going to tender again later and purchasing permits for the project.

Engineering studies done for the project will be good for two years, she added.