Printer Friendly Version - Planned Fix for Ferry Dock in February

This October photo shows the surface deterioration of the town's Ferry Road dock structure-the substructure may be in even worse condition. Pending Department of Energy & Environmental Protection approval, the town will begin repairs in February.

OLD SAYBROOK - With closure of the deteriorating Ferry Road dock by the town's insurance carrier a strong possibility, bids for the long-planned Ferry Road dock fix have arrived just in time.

Funding to both engineer and construct the dock repairs will come from two sources: a $250,000 Small Town Economic Assistance Program grant and an $85,000 allocation from the town's Harbor Management Commission (HMC) mooring fee fund. The HMC voted to add funding from the HMC fund to allow the winning contractor to complete more of the long-planned dock fixes.

The dock repair will improve the strength and stability of the existing and aging dock. In recent years, huge stones as large as three feet by four feet had fallen out of the dock's foundation, leaving the surface unsupported in places. With no underpinning, the surface developed holes that were hazardous for the dock's users. The new sections the contractor will install will be made of both wood and steel.

"We voted to add $85,000 to the project to increase the amount of sheathing to add four more sections [to the dock repair] than originally planned to stabilize the dock even more," said HMC Chairman Ray Collins.

Collins estimates that more than 20 boats, many of them commercial fishing boats, have called the town's Ferry Road dock their home berth.

"If we hadn't done anything to repair the dock, the town's insurance carrier said they would have had to close it down. The dock repair takes away a huge potential liability the town faced and also provides a dock that will be there for my children's children," said Collins.

The lowest qualified bid the town received was from a local firm, Old Colony Construction, for $208,000. The HMC voted to recommend the town's selectmen award the contract to the firm after the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) completes its final review of the project.

DEEP must review and approve the recommended bidder's plans before the town can award the contract. Collins expects that DEEP will complete its review of the project plans by the end of the year. The town's Board of Selectmen (BOS) would then vote to award the dock work contract.

With two BOS meetings in January-one on the second Tuesday and another on the fourth Tuesday-an award could occur as early as Jan. 8 if DEEP finishes its review in time. With a one-month lead time for the order of project materials, field work wouldn't begin until the middle of February. Once started, the project will take about three months to complete.

"The dock project work should be completed by the middle of May," said Collins-just in time for the start of the annual boating season.