During a special meeting on Halloween, the Green Cove Springs City Council agreed to spend a combined $256,278 to repair the City Pier and make overdue renovations on the historic River House on Spring Street.

Both proposals passed 5-0.

Harbor Marine Construction of Orange Park will be paid $38,385 to remove broken boards and replace a 300-foot section of handrails and marine-grade wooden posts that were broken when an untethered boat smashed into the pier during Hurricane Helene on Sept. 26.

Also, Bourre Construction Group of Fleming Island reached a $225,000 agreement with the city to make significant improvements to the River House, including:

• Remove 1x4 decking and damaged 2x8 floor joists, replace damaged 2x8 floor joists, install new pressure-treated 2x4s for decking, frame new stairs on right side of the porch, install porch handrails, replace the trim on one column, remove and replace two 2x12 headers at the outside edge of the porch;

• Sleeping porch – remove exterior wall panels that we added between the columns, install two new concrete piers to add support to the porch, add pressure-treated wood to joists and beams, add metal hangers (where accessible) at beam-to-joist connections;

• Demolition of the addition of the right side of the building;

• Reclaim as much good siding material from demolition noted as possible and reuse;

• Apply two coasts of white exterior paint on the exterior walls of a building, with no surface preparation included other than pressure washing;

• Replace the damaged lattice skirt board around the exterior crawl space.