Maintenance dredging began at Mill Creek boat ramp in Wake before Memorial Day weekend to clear the accumulated sand in front of the ramp from blocking access. The work started Wednesday, May 24.
Hartfield District Supervisor John Koontz said at the regular May Middlesex County Board of Supervisors (MCBS) meeting that he would do everything he could to get the ramp back in use by Memorial Day weekend.
Even though maintenance dredging is described by some as a “band-aid” for a much larger problem, supervisors voted in May to appropriate up to $10,000 to temporarily fix the problem of wind and seas blowing and pushing sand back in front of the ramp.
The ramp is vital to commercial fishermen who use it to access fishing grounds near the mouth of the Rappahannock River and recreational boaters who come to the county to visit and enjoy water-related activities.
Even though this is the third maintenance dredging in front of the ramp in the last three years, the sand keeps coming back and filling in and blocking access.
Middlesex County Planning Director David Kretz said at the May supervisors meeting that the county is working on a long-term fix for the ramp. Supervisors have partnered with the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission (MPPDC) on finding a solution.
The site has also been awarded grant funding from Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) under the Fight the Flood Program and Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc. of Virginia Beach, which has been hired to help find a solution.
William Wright of WHW of Harmony Village and Vaughan Haywood of Haywood Marine Construction in Deltaville have removed the sand in exchange for the sand, which they use regionally for their clients’ projects, said Koontz.
“This time we had to purchase some logging mats to be able to safely and gently access the material obstructing the ramp and rent turbidity curtains, which were loaned to us for free from Earth Resources in Lancaster County the last two years, but were no longer available,” he said. “I think we are going to get by spending around $3,000.”
Koontz thanked Wright and Haywood for their support. He noted that Wright postponed several important jobs just before the holiday weekend to be of assistance to the community. “We have some great people living in this county and William Wright and Vaughan Haywood are two of them,” Koontz said.
