Army Corp backs away from dredging Fly Creek Harbor Channel

FAIRHOPE, Ala. (WPMI) — The battle over who will pay for dredging at the Fly Creek Boat Channel in Fairhope is over.

Fairhope tax payers will now be footing half of the $500,000 project. This after the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers said no to the dredging after having done it for decades. It all goes back to Fairhope no longer being a commercial fishing port.

The last time the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers dredged the harbor was 10 years ago and the federal government covered all the cost.

Fairhope special projects coordinator Lynn Maser says this time Congress simply said no even though Fly Creek is still considered a “safe harbor” – it can no longer be considered a commercial fishing port.

“They are gentlemen who do go out shrimping but they are hobbyists. They are not full fledged commercial fishermen, so we keep them there because of our history as a commercial fishing port,” said Maser.

For local boaters the need to dredge the channel is so important that the Fairhope Yacht Club has now come forward to share the expense with the city by paying half of the $500,000 cost.

“Us, all boaters, we are all happy it’s going to get done because it was reaching a fairly critical level. It was reaching a point at which the channel was shallow enough that some of your boaters could not get in and out,” said boat owner Richard McCall.

The City of Fairhope owns the North side of the Fairhope Docks and makes money off slip rentals as well as benefits from the sale of fuel from boaters that come here from all over the country.

“To me it’s kind of like the State Route 181 of the waterways. We wouldn’t let 181 just close up and not be navigable to cars. This is the same thing. This is the only safe harbor along this stretch of the Eastern Shore and it’s important to make sure it’s navigable,” said Public Works Director Richard Johnson.

Work will begin in early April and will take 30 days to complete. The waterway will remain open to boaters while dredging is underway.

The Army Corp of Engineers’ top priority is the Mobile Ship Channel and keeping that dredged.

Smaller harbors like this one will not get funding if it can’t be justified.

The Corp has agreed, however, to pay for testing and depth measuring ahead of the dredging at a cost of about $10,000.

_{Source: mynbc15.com}