Posted on March 16, 2022
EMERALD ISLE — The town received only one bid to dredge the channel that leads to and from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission boat launching facility and readvertised for bids to open Monday, town manager Matt Zapp said March 8.
Speaking during the board of commissioners’ monthly meeting in town hall and online via Zoom and Facebook, the manager said state law prohibits the town from opening the bid and awarding a contract if there is only one bid.
But if there is still only one bid by the new, second deadline of 10 a.m. Monday, that bid can be opened, and the town can award a contract.
The town estimated the cost of the project at $90,000 and would have to pay $30,000 of that, with the rest coming from a grant from the N.C. Shallow Draft Inlet and Aquatic Weed Fund, which receives revenue from boat motor fuel taxes.
If the bid comes in over budget, Mr. Zapp said, “we’ll go back and ask for more (money from the state).” The state grants usually pay two-thirds of the cost of local dredging projects.
Mr. Zapp said it’s been difficult to get bids because of the uncertainty of the times, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting workforce numbers and now with gas prices soaring.
A meeting was scheduled for Monday to award the contract.
The project, when funded, will remove 995 cubic yards of material from the channel, from the WRC launch basin to about channel marker 28. The water farther into the Bogue Sound and out to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway is still deep enough and won’t be dredged, according to the manager.
Mr. Zapp said in a meeting last year he worked with the state and the Carteret County Shore Protection Office to develop the plan. A bucket dredge will load the dredged material onto a barge, which will take it to shore to be hauled away and disposed of at a permitted site.
The town and boaters say the work is necessary because chronic shoaling is creating a boat-and-trailer logjam as boaters encounter shallow water leaving and returning to the facility.
The launch includes four launching ramps and parking for 112 vehicle/trailer combinations and a separate parking lot with 18 single-vehicle spaces. It is managed by the WRC and open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. There is no fee to use it.
In other business during the meeting March 8, the board approved a project to widen Louise Avenue, from Boardwalk to Islander Drive, to its full authorized right-of-way of 25 feet.
The contract for the work has been awarded to Thomas Simpson Construction of Morehead City at a cost of $38,100, including two days of traffic control during the construction. But that price could change if the cost of asphalt increases.
Mr. Zapp said the goal is to have the project complete before Easter weekend, which begins Friday, April 15.
In a memo to the board for the meeting, public works director Artie Dunn said the widening is needed to enhance traffic flow and pedestrian safety in the wake of completion of the first phase of the Village West commercial and residential development.
In addition, the town’s Western Ocean Regional Access is off Louise Avenue and draws thousands of visitors each week during tourism season, which traditionally kicks of Easter weekend.
“We will need to make some improvements to the existing, private stormwater system along the south side of Louise, mainly for aesthetic reasons,” Mr. Dunn said in his memo.
