About $1.6 million in leftover cash will be used to fund more upgrades around Warrnambool's new boat ramp, councillors have been told.
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The $1.89 million tender for the new boat ramp was awarded at Monday's council meeting, coming in way under budget for the project which had attracted $3.5 million in state government funding.
The councillors voted unanimously to award the contract, although some raised concerns about the project only attracting a submission from one company to build the long-awaited structure, even though many had requested the tender document.
Mayor Richard Ziegeler and Cr Angie Paspaliaris said while they initially had concerns about the lack of submissions, they had been assured the company had the experience needed for its construction.
That company is set to begin works on the project in May which are scheduled to be completed by August/September.
The council's infrastructure director David Leahy said officers were now in discussions with Better Boating Victoria about what to spend the leftover money on to further upgrade the area.
"We're looking at some designs for some subsequent infrastructure to further improve the site," Mr Leahy said.
Cr Ben Blain said it was an exciting project which was a long time coming.
He said just over half the money would be spent on the initial works, and he hoped the excess funds would bring more infrastructure to the foreshore.
Cr Blain said it was the first stage of the safer boat launching facility - something that had claimed a number of vehicles over the years - but the wave surge was something that still needed to be addressed.
Cr Max Taylor said the new facility would be important for both locals and visitors to use.
Cr Ziegeler said he was glad work was about to start. "It was an interesting exercise that we received requests for the tender documents, but only one responded," he said.
But Cr Ziegeler said the tender who put in the submission was well qualified.
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Katrina Lovell
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
