City Council Approves $1.8 Million Dredging Project

City Council on Thursday awarded a $1.8 million contract to dredge parts of Ocean City's back bay.

Many channels and lagoons on the bayside are impassable to boat traffic at low tide. 

City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution (see attached PDF) giving the contract to Hydro-Marine Construction Company of Hainesport, NJ, which submitted the lowest of three competitive bids.

The project would include dredging in an area between 16th Street and 34th Street, including substantial parts of:

• Carnival Bayou Lagoon: Between 16th and 17th streets (the dredging in this area would include part of the bayfront heading toward 15th Street)
• Venetian Bayou Lagoon: Between 17th and 18th streets
• Sunny Harbor Lagoon: Between Arkansas and Walnut
• South Harbor Lagoon: Between Spruce and Tennessee
• Clubhouse/Bluefish Lagoon: Between Waterway Road and Clubhouse Drive

The areas would be dredged to a minimum depth of four feet (at low water) and average of five feet — with some spots six feet deep.

The city still awaits final approval of state and federal permits to start the work. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) received a completed application April 25 and has up to 90 days to approve it.

But Business Administrator Mike Dattilo said the city has been consulting with the DEP since late last summer, and he said he doesn't anticipate any problem with permitting. He expects the federal Army Corps of Engineers to issue its permit at the same time.

The earliest the work could start would be June 1, Dattilo said.

About 100,000 cubic yards of dredge spoils can be transported to an existing site off 34th Street without further permitting, Dattilo said.

He said the DEP has tested the material to be dredged (as is required) and that the results are available at the City Clerk's Office. He said a summary of results show levels that are "not alarming" — though they do show some metals and some organics (including benzopyrene).

With the additional 100,000 cubic yards, the existing spoils site would be filled to capacity, and the absence of a new site is the primary obstacle to completing more dredging work.

"This is not a long-term solution," Dattilo said. "We're working diligently toward a long-term plan."

A potential new spoils site along the Route 52 causeway could help dredge the Snug Harbor and Glen Cove lagoons on either side of Ninth Street, Dattilo said. A plan to pump north-end dredge spoils to the beach will not be permitted, because the materials are not compatible with the beach sand, he said.

Along with $194,634 in planning costs paid to Duffield Associates, the existing project should cost about $2 million.

Councilman Scott Ping asked if private owners would have the opportunity to pay to expand dredging work to include private boat slips, and Dattilo responded that they would not — because the spoils site has no additional capacity.

Ocean City Engineering Manager Roger Rinck said as few as 3 percent of property owners took advantage of that opportunity during previous dredging projects.

In public comment, Ocean City resident Georgina Shanley asked several questions of the project, including, "Who's liable if the project does not get permitted?"

The question went unanswered during council's discussion of the resolution.

City Council also voted unanimously to approve a resolution authorizing a $188,500 contract with Ronald Janney Electrical Contractor, Inc., to replace lighting at the Fifth Street ball fields.