Posted on October 5, 2022
The City of Rye will proceed with the dredging of Milton Harbor in two stages at a cost of over $5 million. In a departure from the original plan, the dredge will now take place over two years versus one – the Milton Harbor channel will be dredged this year and the boat basin will be dredged in late 2023. The City Council approved the final plan last week at a special meeting.
“The channel dredge will finally is going to take place and the basin dredge is contractually committed to with both the dredger and the disposal facility and that the monies are available and will happen next year,” Rye City Manager Greg Usry told MyRye.com. “There are no unknowns. There’s no ambiguity, There is no ‘let’s see what happens next year’. It is it is a contractually committed and financially obligated and we have the resources to do it.”
The dredge approvals should be welcome news. The US Coast Guard removed its nine buoys – federally maintained “ATONs” or aids to navigation – from Milton Harbor earlier this summer on Monday, June 6th due to significant shoaling in the area.
Here is what you need to know:
Milton Channel – 2022
In fourth quarter (likely starting in the next couple of weeks), the dredging of the Milton Harbor channel will start. This will be funded by the City of Rye at a cost of $1.6 million. The dredge will clear the channel five feet deep and seventy five feet wide. Silt from the channel will be towed out to an area on Long Island Sound where dumping is allowed by permit from the New England Army Corps, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.
These private ATONs – aids to navigation – were installed in Milton Harbor by installed McCauley Mooring and Diving Services of Larchmont on June 6, 2022.
The Rye Boat Basin – 2023
The dredge of the boat basin is significantly more complicated and costly due to the pollution levels in the silt. All dredged material must be remediated and disposed of in a landfill, driving up costs significantly.
The cost of the Boat Basin dredge, which involves the removal of approximately 20,000 cubic yards of material, will cost $3.5 million and be funded by the Basin’s enterprise fund and operating income from 2022 and 2023. The Basin should achieve a uniform depth of four to five feet.
Meet the Vendors
Both dredges – the channel and the basin – will be conducted by H&L Contracting, LLC. of Hauppauge. The disposal of the dredged material from the basin will be handled by Clean Earth. The two year plan was driven primarily by the fact Clean Earth was unable to take the dredge material until 2023.
