City to ‘manage scope’ of $1.13m approved Kin Park lighting work to tackle project deficit

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — City council has approved work on trails in Kin Park despite a $143,000 budget deficit. 

During the August 11th meeting, the City of Fort St. John council approved a tender award for construction on the Kin Park North Trail Connection.

The project includes installing lighting on existing multi-use trails and minor upgrades to the nearby Garrison Trail.

“The existing multi-use trails are well-used by the community, including school-aged children who walk to and from nearby school campuses,” the city’s report reads.

“As a winter city in northern B.C., children commute to and from school in the dark throughout the winter. Community members are able to better use the trails in the winter months when they are illuminated.”

The work was awarded to Northern Legendary Construction, with the company estimating the work would total approximately $1.13 million. 

The city has received a BC Active Transportation Infrastructure grant for trail lighting projects in 2025 for a total of $1.69 million. 

These funds have been divided between two trail projects, with $779,000 going to a project approved in June for lights throughout the city’s various trails and $912,000 allocated to the Kin Park project. 

Neither project is entirely funded by the grant, and the city has allocated $724,000 for the projects in the 2025 capital budget, including more than $400,000 for Kin Park.

According to the budget summary included in a staff report to council on the Kin Park project, the approved budget was approximately $1.11 million, meaning it is just over $143,200 over budget.  

Alongside the $1.11 million budget, approximately $140,000 is included in the estimated project costs as contingency funds, and when asked by council, staff confirmed they would work to “manage the scope” and avoid using those contingency funds. If the funds are not used, the overall project deficit would be reduced to about $3,200.

If the deficit cannot be entirely removed, council has approved the use of surplus funds from the first trail light project, which came under budget by $162,000. 

The report did not include a timeline for when the work would begin or how long it would take to be completed. The next step of the project will see the city working alongside Northern Legendary Construction to confirm a start date and timeline.