Sand fencing planned for Mill Creek’s boat landing

County is maintaining its fight to keep silt clogs out of popular Wake launch site

by Larry Chowning –

The Middlesex County Board of Supervisors (MCBS) led by Hartfield representative John Koontz just will not give up on keeping the boat ramp at Mill Creek in Wake open to boat traffic.

The Wake boat ramp is one of the most used public boat ramps in the county and has a history of silting over with sand leaving the ramp unusable. The ramp is maintained by Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR).

Recently the county partnered with Middle Peninsula Public Access Authority (MPPAA) to find other funding avenues. At the MCBS board meeting on March 1, Koontz praised the work of MPPAA and executive director of the Middle Peninsula District Planning Commission, Lewie Lawrence, who has been working and been successful in finding “some” funds to do the engineering work on the ramp.

As a temporary fix, new sand fencing has been installed and American Beach Grass sprigs have been planted on the eastern beach side of the ramp. “The installation is intended to buy us time to get an engineered solution funded, engineered and eventually installed,” wrote Koontz.

The landing is used by recreational boaters year-around and commercial fishermen to off-load their boats during the spring and summer blue crab season and the winter oyster season.