Posted on September 21, 2017
By Dale P. Faulkner, thewesterlysun.com
Plans are under way to dredge a portion of Winnapaug Pond after the town received word Monday that $2.1 million in federal funding has been approved for the project. The coming weeks and months will include a whirl of activity as the project must be completed by Jan. 31 to satisfy federal grant requirements and a narrow window to conduct dredge projects.
The total approved budget for the project, including non-federal funds, is about $2.8 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. The federal agency informed town officials of the grant award on Monday. The federal funds will come through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act approved by Congress following Superstorm Sandy, which in 2012 wreaked havoc on the Misquamicut area and deposited sand and sediment into the pond, which had already been targeted for a dredging project.
The $2.8 million is based on the original scope of work that would require $656,250 in non-federal funds. On Tuesday, Town Manager Derrik M. Kennedy said the Town Council has set aside $475,000 for the project, which is likely to be reduced in scope. A reduction in scope would reduce the amount of the town’s contribution. The state Coastal Resources Management Council had committed $200,000 to the project but has since redirected the funds, a development Kennedy called, “unfortunate.”
On Monday, Kennedy told the Town Council that staff will have to work quickly as the federal grant will expire after 220 days and because of the dredge window, which is Oct. 15-Jan. 31, according to GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc., a Providence-based environmental engineering firm working with the town on the project.
“We have a very, very tight and clear and specific, that we can not change, deadline,” Kennedy said.
The Town Council on Monday unanimously approved the use of $160,000 in USDA NRCS grant funds to have GZA complete engineering and permit-related services for the project. In 2015, GZA studied the pond and developed a plan for dredging 32,500 cubic yards of material.
The exact amount of material to be dredged was unclear Tuesday. Kennedy said additional details will become available once permits for the project are obtained.
In a Sept. 17 letter to the town, GZA calls the area surrounding the Weekapaug Breachway and the eastern portion of Winnapaug Pond the primary proposed dredge areas and also makes reference to areas across Atlantic Avenue from Westerly Town Beach.
According to the GZA letter, the dredged material will be used for replenishment of town beaches and restoration of the pond’s salt marshes. CRMC has raised concerns about using the material for beach replenishment but agreed to include replenishment in permit applications.
Under its new contract, GZA will also survey the ares to receive dredged material, prepare preliminary beach and marsh design drawings, prepare final engineering drawings, and conduct meetings and project management.
GZA’s letter notes the looming deadline.
“It is clear that the Rhode Island dredge window of Oct. 15-Jan. 31 provides the steepest challenges to project completion given the status of the project and the uncertainty involved in environmental permitting of the project. With full understanding of the hurdles this project faces, the town has committed to moving forward with the project in hopes that all stakeholders will work together to bring the project to fruition,” the letter states.
Kyle Corneau, whose Utter Street residence is near the east end of the pond, called news Tuesday of the planned dredging project the “best call I’ve received all day.” Since 1997, when Corneau bought his house, the pond has become increasingly difficult to navigate due to increasing sand and sediment, he said.
“It’s been getting shallower and shallower, especially after Superstorm Sandy when all the sand off of the beaches ended up in the pond,” Corneau said.
At low tide, Corneau said there is only 1.5 feet of clearance to get through the section of the pond nearest to his house. At times Corneau and his neighbors have used shovels and buckets to create a channel to get through, he said.
Source: thewesterlysun.com
