Posted on December 14, 2020
BEAUFORT — Carteret County commissioners Monday night approved a contract for a long-desired project to dredge the Old Ferry Channel that runs through Bogue Sound from Cape Carteret to Emerald Isle, crossing the Intracoastal Waterway.
The action came as part of the board’s consent agenda, a list of items considered noncontroversial and suitable for passage with one vote.
Greg Rudolph, manager of the County Shore Protection Office, which oversees dredging, said the contract went to T.D. Eure Marine Construction of Beaufort for $1.45 million.
“The original (low) bid (was) $1.95 million,” Mr. Rudolph said in an email Monday night. “By negotiating … we were able reduce (that) to … $1.45 million. We feel very positive moving forward.”
The state, through its Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund, which gets revenue from fees for new and transferred boat titles and the tax on boat fuel, will pay two-thirds of the cost.
The project also includes dredging of portions of Deer Creek, which serves as water access to Bogue Sound and the Intracoastal Waterway for many property owners in Cape Carteret. Specifically, work in town will be done in portions of Deer Creek North, Deer Creek South, the connection between Deer Creek and the Old Ferry Channel, Schoolhouse Creek and Deer Creek North Extension, which runs in a culvert under Manatee Street.
Staging of equipment could begin before the end of this week, and dredging could begin next week.
“The deadline for completion is (Thursday) April 1,” because of state environmental rules, Mr. Rudolph said, “so every single day matters.”
Cape Carteret Commissioner Steve Martin, who has been a big advocate of the project, said Tuesday most people probably don’t realize what a big deal it is for the town and praised Mr. Rudolph for working hard to get it done.
“We’ve got about 500 people who use our town boat ramp at the end of Manatee Street, plus another 100 who use the private one in Bayshore (Park), not to mention all the property owners along the creek,” he said. “That’s probably 1,000 people all together. And all of them have to go through these (silted) spots.”
Another positive factor, Mr. Martin said, is that now all the engineering work has been done, maintenance of the channels in the creek will be easier in the future because permits are in hand.
Cape Carteret officials have been especially eager to get the Deer Creek North Extension work done, since it has silted in a lot since problems arose with an N.C. Coastal Federation artificial wetlands/storm water retention system on the west side of Manatee Drive. The system failed during Hurricane Florence in September 2018, and the federation is looking for money to fix it.
The town has been working to secure money from property owners along Deer Creek to pay a share of the cost of the dredging work inside the town limits.
Mr. Rudolph said it should cost about $158,712 in non-state money for the sections of Deer Creek. If the town pays half, that comes to about $79,000. Mr. Rudolph said the county will leave it up to the town to come up with the money.
The town commission, by a 4-1 vote earlier this year, agreed to pay half of its share, with the other half to come from residents along the creek, and most have agreed to contribute.
“We don’t care how they (the town) do it,” Mr. Rudolph said. “But the county isn’t going to go out and knock on doors to collect money. That’s not what we do. We’re just glad we were able to get this under contract. It’s been needed for a long time.”
Dredged material will be stored, until it dries out, on two properties owned by Paxon Holz and another owned by John “Bubba” McLean and John McLean, who volunteered the properties and support the project.
Once the dredged material dries, it can be used by the property owners for fill material, and those who donated drying sites can also sell it. They do incur some costs, though, for fencing to keep the material out of adjacent waterways and off adjacent land.
“That’s a big selling point” to get disposal sites, Mr. Rudolph said of the property owners’ ownership of the dredge spoils, which county boring surveys indicate will be mostly usable sand. “We’re very grateful.”
Contact Brad Rich at 252-864-1532; email Brad@thenewstimes.com; or follow on Twitter @brichccnt.
Source: carolinacoastonline
