Posted on December 20, 2021
OGDENSBURG — The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority Board of Directors is calling on the state and federal governments to contribute more toward a project to dredge the city’s harbor and expand the port.
OBPA Director Steven J. Lawrence told the board the total project price tag, because of contingencies the Army Corps of Engineers is required to build into the project price, will cost $42.6 million.
“The numbers are quite staggering,” he told the board. “The Corps has really tight specs … and a lot of requirements.”
A resolution calls on the federal government to provide $5 million in funding, on top of $5 million already secured, and another $11.4 million from the state, on top of $19.2 million already secured. The resolution says OBPA has secured $219,000 for the effort.
“The potential here is so much more than I think a lot of people realize … If we expand this port, it can change a lot of what’s going on with economic activity in the north country,” board Chairman Vernon D. “Sam” Burns said.
Mr. Lawrence said he’s hopeful that the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act may be of some help.
“The passage of the infrastructure bill, where is that money going?” he said. “We haven’t heard anything about funding for the port or the bridge.”
“If people around this country think we don’t need to invest in infrastructure, they’re not aware of what’s going on,” he added.
Mr. Lawrence said it comes down to “circumstance and construction costs … that’s happening everywhere in the state and the country.”
The dredging project would modify a 300-by-500-foot section of the federal channel to an authorized depth from 19 feet to 27 feet. In May, officials had believed the project would come in at just under $7 million.
