Port Marina Project postponed until 2020 In-water Work Season

The Port of Alsea Commissioners held a special board meeting on October 10, 2019 to discuss the marina construction schedule. For reasons too lengthy to go into, we do not yet have our permits from the Corps to build the marina and do the dredging. Our contractor was very reasonably concerned that by the time we received the necessary permits, he would not be able to complete the project within the four month in-water-work season. He recommended that we postpone the entire project until next year. The cost will stay the same. We asked how much extra it would cost to split the project and do the boat launch this year, and the marina, dredging, and mitigation projects next year. The extra cost is the extra mobilization and demobilization of the equipment that would be required. It would have cost an extra $100,000, which the Port cannot justify spending. So, the Port will not be closing on October 23 as we have been reporting. Instead, the Port will again be selling the annual launch passes and we will do the construction next year. Despite the huge disappointment, there are some silver linings. One is that the bulk of the bond money will remain in the investment account for an extra year, which will result in tens of thousands of dollars of accrued interest that can be used on capital projects. We will also find a way to have the kayak launch installed and functioning next spring rather than wait another year.