Posted on May 4, 2020
DUNEDIN — All city commissioners are on board with a dredging project slated to start June 1 at the Dunedin Marina.
The time is now to start the project, city officials said, so work can be completed before the holiday season when several events are held, such as the Dunedin Holiday Boat Parade.
The City Commission voted 5-0 on April 14 to award a $1.14 million bid to Gator Dredging of Clearwater. It includes a maximum incentive of $100,000 for early completion. The deadline to complete the project is Nov. 2.
The boat ramp will close to the public Friday, May 8.
Based on a survey, about 13,000 cubic yards of material will need to be removed to return the marina to the desired depths.
Commissioners and city officials spoke repeatedly at the meeting about the efforts being undertaken to accommodate slip users and others that will be affected by the work at the marina basin and entrance canal. Gator Dredging is expected to start staging the final week of May, coinciding with the city removal of boats from the two southern fairways of slips of the marina.
Lanie Sheets, a parks and recreation department administration superintendent, said the Marina Advisory Committee has been an active participant in preparations for the project and the chairman has provided a letter to the city explaining why they support the project.
The marina staff has been in communication with all the different parties that will be affected by the project at the marina, Sheets said, from the slip owners, the different sailing groups and the Dunedin Boat Club.
Slip owners as well as Olde Bay Café, a restaurant at the marina, will have their rent abated during the project, she said.
“Boats will need to be moved,” Sheets said. “That is a process we will be coordinating with all the slip renters.”
The contractor plans to start south and work north, she said, and slip users will be given as much advance notice as possible as to when it is time to relocate their boats.
In response to questions about whether the project should be delayed a year because of the effects of the coronavirus on the public and local businesses, city officials said in a memo that there already are areas of the marina that have insufficient depth for navigation.
If the project is delayed, sediments will continue to accumulate over the next year, creating hardships for slip renters, and it is reasonable to expect that additional accumulated material will most likely increase the total cost of the project, the memo said.
Some slip renters and others had expressed concern that they won’t have adequate time to relocate their boats.
Former City Commissioner John Tornga, who has been active in marina activities for many years, such as being chairman of the Waterfront Task Force, asked at the meeting that the project be delayed, expressing concerns about the work being conducted during hurricane season and the impacts of the coronavirus on the community.
“I don’t know of anybody who knows where they are going to put their boat,” Tornga said. “I don’t know anybody that is even considering where they are going to try to put their boat at this point in time.”
Sheets said city officials will be putting together a document for all slip owners to let them know of all the different marinas throughout the Pinellas County area that have the ability to offer wet slips or dry storage.
Commissioners and city officials said the project, which they have worked on for a long time, will help the economy.
“I know this is hard. I know everybody is going through a lot right now,” Commissioner Moe Freaney said. “I think we are trying to avoid having this happen in our busy season. Hopefully, our busy season is going to be like really busy and when we are going to be bringing our businesses back, and this would be behind us. By doing it I think also all our experts in the state, national and local arenas are like keep the projects going. To the extent we can keep the economy going, we should,” Freaney said.
The impact of sea level was also discussed. Staff examined future projects for sea-level rise and determined the rate of future projections for sea-level rise is not significant enough to eliminate the need for dredging.
Commissioner Jeff Gow was glad to see that sea level was discussed.
“I think it’s important. I think it’s something that should be part of our everyday conversation,” he said.
Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski said it will be a while before people will be able to gather at Edgewater Park for events and “so given that, it seems like the perfect time to be doing this and being able to give people a break on their rent.”
“Anything we can do to make sure nothing is altering the ability to have a great season to the best of our ability that the economy allows, I’m all for it,” she said. “So I think that’s going to be important for anybody working or owning a business providing employment.”
Source: tbnweekly
