The project would dredge a six- or seven-foot deep channel with a combined 35-foot side slopes and a 116-foot surface width. “The ACOE has to demonstrate benefit on a national level,” Bartlett said. The ACOE’s preferred alternative is a six-foot-deep channel.Īs the federal program is aimed at commercial fishing, economic benefits arising from tourism and recreation are not included in the study although all-tides access would likely provide benefits to them. The report estimates an annual commercial benefit of a dredged channel at $183,000 for a six-foot depth, and $190,000 for a seven-foot depth, for a benefit-cost ratio in the black, a requirement of the federal funding. “It’s a lot more than they were saying a year ago,” Selectman Ellen Best said. If the town approves its share of the costs, construction could begin in 2021, depending on when a town vote is held. Agency review and a 60-day public comment will be held before a final report is ready for full ACOE approval. The town has paid $104,000 to date, and the additional $20,000 must be approved through a town vote, as will the town’s initial 10 percent share for the construction, estimated at $3.5 million, or if the town wants the ACOE to dig a foot deeper, $3.75 million, with the additional quarter-million paid for by the town.īartlett said that without payment, the project would effectively be stalled, as funds owed would cover costs of producing a final report, which then would be publicly released. Under the town’s agreement with the ACOE, it would pay half the cost of the study, originally estimated at $160,000. A second round of tests determined the safest, most cost-effective way to remove the contaminated dredge material. The town has paid $104,000 to date for the feasibility study, after costs spiked from additional rounds of testing required after the ACOE found gasoline contaminants in isolated areas, mostly near the wharf itself. With no warrant article requesting the funds at town meeting in April, “we have no money,” Selectman Jim Dow said afterwards. However, holding onto a copy of the draft report will cost the town $20,000, selectmen learned. The latest proposal to dredge the Blue Hill harbor channel to secure all-tides access for commercial fishermen is one step closer to approval, after Army Corps of Engineers Project Manager Bill Bartlett presented a draft report of a feasibility study under way since 2015 to selectmen July 10.
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