Harbormaster Questions Dredging Project

Harbormaster Larry Bithell told thethat he has major concerns about the proposed harbor dredging project and proposed that members of the committee join him in meeting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the project.

“If we don't do it right this time and make sure that we spend the town's money wisely, I worry that in another 18 years we will not be able to moor the number of boats we do today,” Bithell wrote in a letter to the.

The harbor was dredged partially 18 years ago.

Committee Chairman Bill Hennessey appointed himself and Vice Chairman Jackson Shultz as a subcommittee to join the harbormaster in attending a meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers and other permit-granting agencies. They will report back to the Harbor Advisory Committee at its next meeting on Sept. 14.

The dredging to remove sand from the harbor bottom would likely impact the large and rapidly growing eel grass in the harbor. Eel grass is a protected species.

Bithell told the committee that it has been “an exceptional year for eel grass.” According to the Department of Environmental Protection and other agencies, the Swampscott harbor is being overrun by eel grass, he said.

“We will need to do everything we can to avoid impacting eel grass and that, if we do, we will need to replicate it elsewhere at a cost of about $100,000 an acre,” Bithell wrote.

Selectman Rick Malagrifa asked if the eel grass problem was so severe that “We are going to lose the harbor?”

Bithell and other committee members said the eel grass has already forced some boat moorings to be moved to deeper water. But eel grass can also be wiped out by a severe storm, he said.

“Before we start down this road (of dredging) we need to make sure we can get the permits we will need and the project can be justified by need and cost (a cost benefit analysis),” Bithell wrote.

Bithell said he is concerned that the proposed dredging project, which would cost about $500,000, would not “benefit the entire harbor, the residents who use it to moor their boats and visiting yachts.”

He said he believes that dredging to six or seven feet in depth would not be enough to produce the benefits needed to justify the costs. In a heated discussion with committee member Mickey Fistel, he said the harbor may need to be dredged eight to 10 feet deep.

Fistel said that dredging that deep would be too costly for the town.

“My feeling is we need more information before deciding what areas are available for dredging and that a depth of 6.0 feet may not be enough,” Bithell wrote.

He was also concerned that the proposed areas for dredging were too limited. The areas are near the end of the pier.

“It says on page 4 of the RFQ (request for a quote) that the proposed dredging included the areas that were not completed previously along with areas that have shoaled in,” he wrote.

Depending on the results of a bathymetric survey, only two areas will be dredged, the area around the end of the pier and the area northeast of the pier, the letter said.

Fish House Sewer Pipes

In other business, the committee learned that the is receiving bids to replace the sewer pipes at the . The old pipes are clogged and have long caused a stench around the historic building that serves both the fishermen's lockers on the ground floor and the on the second floor.

The town is hoping the sewer project will not cost more than $25,000 to $30,000.