The Mayor says he stands by his $300,000 estimate of the cost of repairing the Tommy Thompson trestle, which was damaged by a fire earlier this fall. But, he now says to keep the cost that low would require much of the repair work to be done by volunteers.
Mayor Dean Maxwell concedes if the work were all done by professional workers, the cost could go to $400,000. And city engineer Eric Shjarback says additional fees for environmental work could add from $30,000 to $100,000 to the cost. But, he suspects the lower figure is what will be the actual cost.
Maxwell and Shjarback addressed members of a committee formed to raise the necessary funds to repair the trestle. A 400 foot section of the trestle across Fidalgo Bay was damaged by a fire of unknown origin. The police are investigating the cause as human, either an accident or arson.
The city has hired a contractor to review the damage and do preliminary engineering work for repair at a cost of $30,000.
Maxwell told the committee that he thinks much of the work on the trestle, particularly placing planking on the new structure could save quite a bit of money. Committee members indicated that both the Shell and Tesoro refineries have offered help.