Spiraling costs have led to the town of Pictou scaling back its capital work plans for the year.
CAO Kyle Slaunwhite told council that while they factored in a 20 percent rise in costs when budgeting $836,000 for the planned work, the minimum bids for the work came to over $1.8 million.
Slaunwhite did have some good news for council, as the province in March provided $381,000 through the Sustainable Services Growth Fund. The new capital plan that council reluctantly approved for this year does not include Constitution Street, Gill Court, Taylor Street, and reduces the scope of realignment of the intersection of Union and Cedar Streets by using less asphalt and not including sidewalks.