Millions In Waterfront Projects Pending Following Defeat Of Funding Last May

September 25, 2024

by Tim Wood

Replacing and lengthening the dock at Little Mill Pond is one of the projects that would have been funded by a waterfront infrastructure appropriation that was turned down at last May’s annual town meeting. TIM WOOD PHOTO

CHATHAM – While voters agreed to provide completion money for the 90 Bridge St. project at last week’s special town meeting, a half dozen other major projects still lack funding following last May’s rejection of a waterfront infrastructure bond.

The unfunded projects involve safety improvements and upgrading aging facilities at six town landings and the fish pier.

Voters at last May’s annual town meeting turned down $11.4 million that would have been borrowed to fund a diverse list of waterfront projects over a four-year period. It was a followup to an $11.3 million waterfront bond approved in 2017 which paid for a number of projects, including renovations to the fish pier and the Stage Harbor trap dock. More than $2 million from that bond went toward the Bridge Street project, but there wasn’t enough left to complete the work, triggering last week’s special town meeting.

Without the waterfront bond to draw on, officials may turn to a number of other sources to fund the remaining projects. Some could be funded or at least begun using money from the waterways use fee (WUF) fund, which collects funds from mooring and other waterways-related fees. Others could be supported by grants, but some will require town meeting appropriations.

“What we have to do now is begin some sort of process of prioritization,” waterways advisory committee chair Richard Hosmer said last Thursday.

Coastal Resources Director Ted Keon ran down a list of pending waterfront infrastructure projects at the Sept. 19 session.

Fish pier walkway. Left out of last year’s fish pier improvements was a pedestrian walkway along the south jog, which will serve to separate the public from commercial activities at the dock. It was dropped from the overall project because it required additional permitting, which is now underway, Keon said.

But that will take time, at least nine months or more, but it should be ready for next May’s annual town meeting. Cost estimates are underway; it had originally been pegged at $700,000, but the walkway is being redesigned and should cost less, he said.

Ryder’s Cove landing improvements. The long-awaited upgrading of the popular landing was put on hold while the fish pier and Bridge Street projects were completed. Eelgrass and wetlands delineations are currently underway, Keon said, and once that’s complete final designs and permitting will be completed in the fall or winter of next year, at a cost of about $100,000, likely from WUF funds. Construction costs are estimated at around $3.5 million, and funds would be sought at the 2026 annual town meeting. If approved, the work would be begin that fall and be completed by spring 2027.

Ryder’s Cove trailer parking expansion. Design for expanding the trailer parking area at the town landing are already underway and should be done this fall or winter, Keon said. He anticipated that the work could be done by the public works department with costs drawn from the landing capital account. “Hopefully this could be done by next season,” he said.

Barn Hill landing bulkhead. The town has contracted with an engineer to do an assessment of the bulkhead’s condition, Keon said. Once that is done, officials will have a better idea of the extent of work needed and how pressing it is.

“Just visually, I think it’s pretty obvious that it’s going to be replaced,” he said. Depending on the results of the assessment, about $200,000 in design and permitting funds could be sought at the 2026 annual town meeting, with an estimated $2 million for construction going before voters in 2027.

Little Mill Pond dock. Keon said officials hope to use WUF funds to start design and permitting soon to replace the dock and lengthen it by about 10 feet to reach deeper water. It will be a full rebuild of the pier, the piles of which date from the 1930s. If the design and permitting can be completed over the winter the estimated $700,000 could be sought at the May annual town meeting, with construction taking place over the following fall and winter.

Other projects include marsh protection and restoration at Jackknife Beach; a master plan for Jackknife Beach; ramp replacement and erosion protection at Oyster Pond Furlong; rehabilitation of the Mill Creek jetty (“there’s a big hole in the middle of it,” Keon noted); assessment of the Morris Island Road tide gate (the town has applied for a $136,000 Coastal Zone Management grant for that work); and the addition of floats for the Coast Guard at Old Mill Boatyard. The latter project could cost $1 million, and the town and Coast Guard are currently in talks about how the project will be financed.

“We know what they want, it’s just a matter of coming up with how it’s going to be paid for,” said Harbormaster Jason Holm.

The waterways committee and other water-related boards in town will have to keep close tabs on the projects, Hosmer said.

“Because the funding is not going to be simple for a lot of these, in order to keep them on track, we’re going to have to be very proactive,” he said.