OUR PLACE
The lagoon (as the exit waters from the northern tip of the lake are held back to flow over the dam and become the White River), has needed major repairs for a very long time.
The lagoon piers have broken stringers, rotten pilings, stringers, and deck board, finger piers are broken, cracked off, dislodged and some are unusable. The safety issues are huge and cannot continue to go unresolved any longer. Slips one through five are a debris trap and must be cleared every year at an annual cost of $15,000 to $20,000. Dredging has been mentioned repeatedly by the harbor master and the current estimate of a real dredging of the lagoon is approximately $300,000.
Back in 2013, dredging of half the lagoon was done, which cost roughly $55,000. Costs have risen since and to do the entire lagoon the cost has drastically increased. The bridge through slip six needs sea wall repair which is currently in the budget. The boat slips and piers are unsafe, and beyond the point of repair, so total replacement is required. Harbor Master Russel has recommended their removal and encouraged the city to approve the project. Recently the lagoon pier removal went out for bid and the five bids that came back ranged from $24,000 to $55,000. Russel is comfortable with the lowest of the bids from BruceSki’s Marine Construction, at $24,900. The piers, harbor, and lakefront committee agrees with the Harbor Master and recommends approval of the piers.
The pier removal needs to be done by the last half of March because if the city decides to go with a new pier system it needs to be ready for this coming boat season. Many of the companies Russell has spoken with do not think the time frame is sufficient. If a new pier system is approved, the company doing the work will give a realistic timeline and the city will go from there. The next step, after the removal, is where the big money will need to be spent. The other Request for Proposal (RFP) that went out was for designs and costs to replace the pier system in the lagoon. Twenty-seven packets have gone out and there has been a lot of interest. The harbor master expects several designs and bids to come in. The bids for the design and replacement of the piers will not be opened until February 23, 2024.
Person of the Week
Ellena Stack, basketball phenomena
