The Regional District of Nanaimo board award a $184,748 contract to Koers and Associates Engineering Tuesday to design a section of the E&N Trail. The money will come from a $2.6-million federal Gas Tax Program grant the RDN received in January for the project.

Koers will work on the first phase, connecting Parksville with Coombs and French Creek.
Area H director Bill Veenhof wondered: “If we had budgeted between $50,000 and $60,000,” he said, “maybe we would have seen that [reflected in the bids].”
The project budget is public information, replied RDN chief administrative officer Paul Thorkelsson. “We are cautious that any number we quote is reasonable.”