By early next year, Mono residents with disabilities will finally have barrier-free access to the town's municipal building on Mono Centre Road.

At its meeting Tuesday night, Mono Council unanimously approved awarding a $435,000 contract to Shertine Construction Ltd. of Collingwood, the lowest of four bidders on the project.

Although the low bid was $85,000 above the $350,000 provided for in the Town's 2007 budget, all councillors appeared to be in agreement with Deputy Mayor Dave Baldwin's observation that postponing a decision would only result in even higher costs.

The other three bidders were Deciantis Construction Ltd. of Richmond Hill at $439,000, Quinan Construction Ltd. of Orillia at $476,800 and Tartu Incorporated of Etobicoke at $536,790.

The project includes building a new entrance, installing an elevator and enlarging the building's public washrooms.

At present, Mono is the only Dufferin municipality that lacks full accessibility to its municipal offices. The 35-year-old building does have wheelchair access via a door at the east side of the structure that leads to the council chambers through a kitchen area. However, there is no similar access to the second-floor municipal offices.

Town Clerk/CAO Keith McNenly said the go-ahead should lead to an immediate start on construction and completion of the project by December or January.

Council's vote followed a public meeting attended by about 20 residents, none of whom was strongly opposed to the project, although some felt there might be cheaper ways to provide the access.

Among those present was Mulmur Deputy Mayor Sue Snider, chair of Dufferin County Council's accessibility committee, who praised the plans as meeting the needs of disabled persons.

She told the meeting the issue of accessibility really has little to do with age and much more to do with disabilities, which can develop at any age. She had a disabled permit for her car because of severe arthritis caused by injuries in a car crash, which has made it particularly difficult for her to climb stairs.

Council was told Shertine has an excellent reputation and has been involved in school renovation work, including the justcompleted project at Mono Amaranth Public School.

The over-all cost of the project, including architectural and consulting fees, is expected to be about $480,000. Mr. McNenly said that despite the increased cost, the project will not affect the town's tax rate, since the required funds have been accumulated in reserves.