The cost of paving a short section of Dwight Beach Road for the Muskoka Ironman triathlon in September raised concerns last week at a special Lake of Bays finance and corporate services committee meeting held to discuss the township’s 2008 draft capital budget.

With a proposed paving cost of $173,160, Dwight Beach Road is among 27 roads listed to receive upgrading in the $1,379,613 proposed Public Works construction budget. The road is also one of six projects to be funded by an $841,000 provincial grant for work on roads and bridges.

Councillor Nancy Tapley commented that though other listed roads had been identified as needing work, that was not the case with Dwight Beach Road.

“We are paving this road for the Ironman that will send bicycles hurtling through here at great speed and it will all be great fun,” Tapley said. “But how much specifically are we contributing? We’ve given $10,000 now in cash to the Ironman and staff time in lieu. We need to know our figures, because this is going to be an issue when we go out to sell this to the public. They are going to say, ‘Why didn’t you pave my road?’ Is the Ironman a good thing to have? Probably, but there’s problems around it, and those problems are going to be well aired.”

The Dwight Beach Road section of the triathlon’s 90 km bike ride around Lake of Bays is a short span along the public beach. The road would need a smoother surface than it has at present to accommodate the racing bikes’ thin tires.

Mayor Janet Peake said the funding was originally to have come from elsewhere, and she is investigating other possible funding alternatives.  

“I do feel we will end up overcommitted in a way that we didn’t hope to in the beginning,” said Peake. “I think we need to look at the future and how we perform in partnerships with other municipalities. We are fortunate to have a grant from the province, and I’m pleased council has over the years been able to build their commitment to roads from $500,000 to over $600,000. That will be an advantage for our public, and I think we have to be good guardians of the funds we use.”

Councillor Virginia Burgess was concerned that work on two roads on the list, Hilltop Crescent and Ten Mile Bay Road, had been postponed in the budget, but Peake assured the committee the two roads would not have received work this year even without the Dwight Beach Road expense.

Strongest opposition to the paving cost came from committee chair Ben Boivin who has been involved with the Muskoka Ironman 70.3 triathlon, scheduled for September 14 in Huntsville and Lake of Bays, from its conception.

“From the beginning, I assured the organizers that there was no flipping way they were going to get this road paved on our ticket, and they had better find a way of financing it because we are not going to finance it for you,” he said. “I am opposed to that for a host of reasons.”

Boivin noted there are four houses on the stretch of Dwight Beach Road to be paved.

“If the collective wisdom around this table is that we pave the road, we’re not doing it for those four homes,” he said. “We’re doing it in order to affect the Ironman competition, and that is one big contribution financially.”

A few residents attending the meeting applauded Boivin’s statements.

“I feel very passionately about this,” he replied.

The Muskoka Ironman 70.3 or half triathlon features a 1.9 km. swim in Peninsula Lake, 90 km of cycling and a 21.1 km run through Huntsville along Fairy Vista trail, ending at sponsor Deerhurst Resort. Registration for the event, which is one of 28 qualifier triathlons for the Ford Ironman world championship, was sold out within two months of its announcement. The 1,700 athletes, whose village will be at Deerhurst, will compete for a $25,000 U.S. purse and 50 slots for the World Championship.

Tapley wondered if Hwy. 60 could be used as an alternative to paving the road.

“If it’s possible, then reroute it,” she said. “But be clear that while this sports tourism event will raise our profile, it is unlikely to generate huge income for the township of Lake of Bays because sporting events tend to raise money where the athletes are housed. Is it still a good thing to do? Yes, but it’s a long-term buy in, and that’s a lot of money.”