Posted on January 12, 2017
By Jacob Owens, Cecil Whig
What a difference a year can make.
After more than a year of lobbying for the dredging of the Chesapeake City Basin, the work appears poised to take a step forward.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns about half of the basin, has agreed to apply for a dredging permit and a water quality certificate for the dredge spoils disposal, Mayor Dean Geracimos reported on Tuesday.
Some of that about face may be due to a change in leadership at the Corps. Jerry Jones took over as C&D Canal project manager from Tim Kelly, who had served in that role for some time, in late 2015. While Jones helped shepherd much progress at the Pearce Creek Dredge Material Containment Area in Earleville, Chesapeake City officials were frustrated by the lack of progress in the dredging of the town basin, a major source of tourism revenue.
Last month, Jones told the Whig that the basin was still not a top priority for the district, but he also announced his retirement effective the end of 2016 and Kelly’s return as interim C&D Canal project manager.
“There’s no question that Mr. Kelly has been very instrumental in a lot of the things that occur in Chesapeake City,” Geracimos said Tuesday, also heaping praise on U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin’s office for helping with the negotiations and “getting the ball rolling in several ways.”
Kelly said Tuesday that he believes the Corps may have enough savings in its budget to dredge its half of the basin sometime this year. He also believes that the spoils can go to its nearby Bethel disposal site, subject to the issuance of a state water quality certificate.
In case the Corps does not come up with its share of funding though, Geracimos has been lobbying the state for additional funds. Town officials recently submitted an appropriation request to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Waterway Improvement Fund of upwards of $400,000 to ensure dredging gets done this year.
The town secured a $100,000 grant from the same fund last year to pay for its dredging of town docks and Gianmarco Martuscelli, owner of the Chesapeake Inn Marina & Restaurant, reported that his business was prepared to pay its roughly $60,000 portion. The mayor said that if the town learned that it would receive state funding for the project, but too late in the year to complete the dredging prior to the summer season, he would consider asking council to approve short-term financing to bridge the gap.
“We’re going to do everything we can at the federal level and the state level, where we’ve made great strides in the past 30 days, but we need to get it done now,” Geracimos said. “Our season is just a few months away. The dredging is a serious concern.”
After it was last dredged in 2010, the roughly 1,500-foot-wide basin had a maximum depth of 10 to 12 feet, but now parts of the basin are as shallow as 4 feet at low tide. After a winter, it’s common for some spots in the basin to lose up to a foot of depth while high traffic areas slowly gain back some depth into the spring, Martuscelli said. Water taxis brought in some guests from boats anchored farther out in deeper areas last season, but it’s not an ideal solution, he added.
“People like being docked at the Inn because they’re right in the middle of the action. It’s kind of like a boat show because people walk up and down the docks talking to each other,” Martuscelli said. “When you can’t get in, people think about going somewhere else.”
Geracimos noted that as Delaware completes its section of the C&D Canal Trail this week, his town will have to be even more competitive with its Delaware counterparts in drawing tourists.
“We need to protect ourselves and not lose the boaters and visitors,” he said. “It’s an economic issue for Chesapeake City. It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve tackled in my four years.”
Source: Cecil Whig
