By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
WALDPORT — Crabbers and fishermen using the Port of Alsea’s boat launch and dock are getting a three-week reprieve on its closure.
The port will close the boat launch at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13 rather than a previously scheduled closure Thursday, Oct. 29, which had already been pushed back from Oct. 21.
The change is because of delays scheduling the in-water work by Bergerson Construction of Astoria, which has the contract for the $3 million removal and replacement of the launch and marina. The delay will not affect the scheduled in-water work being done by Feb. 15 and the reopening date of April 15, said Port manager Roxie Cuellar.
“The schedule of finishing the project hasn’t changed,” Cuellar said. “But it works out well for us because we can keep things open a little longer.”
The first work will be digging up and removing the boat launch, then taking out pilings and marina docks, Cuellar said. Dredging is scheduled to take place in December.
Because of their deteriorating condition, the handicapped fishing platform, the ramp leading to the commercial dock, and a portion of the dock farthest out in the bay are already closed.
The Port had planned to close the marina last October so the contractor could tear everything out and replace it. But delays in getting permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and finding an appropriate mitigation project forced construction back a year.
The Port has already closed the parking lot between the now-closed Dock of the Bay store and Azul restaurant so that Bergerson can stage and store construction materials.
Voters approved replacement in 2018
Voters in the port district, which stretches from Waldport east to Tidewater and south to Yachats, approved $2.3 million in bonds in 2018 to replace the launch and marina. The district has collected $300,000 in interest since then.
The Port has also received $400,000 in local and state grants over the past two years, allowing it to do more with the project. These include two recent grants from the Oregon Marine Board — $28,000 to include a launching area for kayaks and $39,750 to pave a parking lot adjacent to Port shops. The Port will contribute $30,000 to those projects, said Cuellar.
The marina project involves a new, two-lane boat launch with a center walkway and rebuilt parking lot.
Once Bergerson begins work, rusting pilings will be pulled out. The marina – which dates back 34 years – will be replaced with new walkways, 38 boat slips, short- and long-term tie-ups and a boathouse for Central Coast Fire and Rescue.
There will also be a new fishing and crabbing platform and a 150-foot-long, 10-foot wide floating walkway for fishing, crabbing and the kayak launch.
The new docks will extend 40 feet farther into the bay. Contractors will dredge sand from the entrance and north sides of the marina and place it on the beach near the west side of downtown Waldport.
As part of federally-required mitigation, the port agreed to use more expensive grated walkways in the marina, install fewer pilings and haul away concrete blocks from a former seawall at the west end of the marina parking lot.
Another mitigation project will involve removing 400 yards of rock and dirt used to make a dam in a canal in the wetlands on the north side of the Alsea River across from Eckman Lake. That added $140,000 to the cost of the project.
