Houghton going through with pier project

Houghton’s waterfront revamp will happen. Before Wednesday’s budget workshop, the Houghton City Council met for a special session on the pier. The lowest bid came in over $1.6 million above what had been anticipated, thanks to soaring steel prices. City Manager Eric Waara looked at several options to try and lower the price, including reducing its scale and substituting in alternative materials where possible.

He also was in contact with representatives from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The project was supposed to be completed last year, but the grant was pulled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a roughly 3-month window where contractors are forced to lock their bids in at, regardless of market forces. If the pier was built in 2020, they would have been able to complete the project without issue. The past six weeks have been a scramble to try and shore up new sources of capital to keep the pier on track.

The MEDC is kicking in over $1.2 million dollars above and beyond what they had previously committed to. The City of Houghton will chip in $408,550 in new funding. Half of that will come from utilizing their full bonding authority for the project. $110,000 will be pulled from the General Fund with sewers and local street reserves contributing the final $98,550 combined.

Unfortunately, the delay in lining up the new money means that the finishing touches on the project won’t be complete until next spring. In addition to the pier, Houghton is hoping to have the space serve as a band shell and overall gathering spot.