Belfast dredging nears completion

BELFAST – With the dredging of the federal navigational channel due to wrap up within the next few days, the city’s harbor master is gearing up for the coming boating season.

Some 120,000 cubic yards of sediment were removed from the channel and taken by tugboat and scow to an approved at-sea disposal area off Rockland, Harbor Master Kathy Messier said Sunday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of the $1.2 million dredging project, and agency inspectors will be in the city this week to meet with contractor Burnham Associates of Salem, Mass., Messier said.

Messier noted that the dredging project has actually moved the navigational channel somewhat to the east. She said that over the years before the job was undertaken, moorings had encroached into the easterly part of channel. Those moorings were among the 75 that were removed from the harbor to accommodate the dredging project. That group of moorings will be put back in place within the next few weeks.

The U.S. Coast Guard also will be in Belfast during that period to install a new buoy marker identifying the easterly portion of the channel. The channel now has a minimum depth of 15 feet.

“They’re almost done,” Messier said of the contractor. “The channel is actually going to be moved toward the east a little more than we are used to. It’s where it was all along.”

Messier said she would be meeting with Public Works Director Wes Richards to prepare a schedule for placing the city’s floats at the public landing.

She said the city is seeking bids for the replacement of three floats as part of its annual maintenance schedule.

The harbor was infested with shipworms two years ago, and the wood-devouring Teredo navalis caused extensive damage to pilings and wharves. The city replaced its oak pilings with South American greenhart hardwood, and Messier is crossing her fingers that the worms have not damaged the new pilings.

She said harbors up and down the coast have been hit by the worms, and the hope was that this year’s cold weather reduced the population.

“The water was a little bit colder this year, and I’m hoping it killed them off. They’re such adaptable little critters, they can really cause a lot of damage,” she said.

Messier said one of the issues of concern to the city’s harbor advisory committee is the lack of local control over aquaculture projects. She said harbor masters are required by law to manage their harbors, but the Department of Marine Resources can supersede that authority on aquaculture issues.

“There’s nothing planned for Belfast that I know of, but it’s such a hot issue with a lot of different entities that we want to keep on top of it,” said Messier. “It makes it difficult for us to manage our harbor when we don’t have a say over where these things go.

“I think everyone agrees that local authority is the best way to go; that is why we are in charge of permitting moorings and what takes place in our harbor.”

Messier said that once the floats are in place, it won’t be long before passing boaters start arriving at the docks. She said boat traffic in the harbor has grown significantly over the past few years.

And sailors know enough to arrive in port early if they want to tie up and enjoy the city for a few days.

“We’re looking forward to a good year on the harbor,” said Messier. “The docks are full most every night all summer. It used to be just Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but not anymore.

“We’ve become a popular destination.”