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Tuesday, November 5, 2024

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Middlesex County may build a reef at Wake boat landing

Mill Creek boat ramp in Wake is open and free of sand now but it is taking one to two dredges a year to keep sand from filling it in. (Photo by Larry Chowning)

Project would address silting at Mill Creek

The Middlesex County Board of Supervisors (MCBS) voted 3-1, on Tuesday, June 4, to continue grant support with the Middle Peninsula Regional Planning District Commission (MPRPDC) to come up with a plan to slow down sand build up at Mill Creek boat ramp.

“The work is being funded under an award (grant) from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Community Flood Preparedness Fund with DCR grant funds covering $26,400 of the design work and the county covering $17,600 as local match towards the effort,” wrote Smith.

“The grant contract expires at the end of October which is why the board needed to make a decision now so that the consultant would have ample time remaining to complete the design for the board’s preferred solution. There are no additional funds needed from the county to complete this work beyond what was already committed to,” he said.

The firm Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc., hired with grant funds, came up with two “conceptual alternatives” that estimated the cost to county taxpayers or through grant funds, for as much as $887,000. This would extend maintenance dredging of the site to four to five years rather than one to two times a year.

Supervisors 3-1 vote on June 4 also including picking “concept one” that would include construction of an artificial reef, some of which would be on private property. The vote on June 4 does not mean that the county will fund the $887,000 project — that will take another vote…

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Larry Chowning
Larry Chowninghttps://www.ssentinel.com
Larry is a reporter for the Southside Sentinel and author of several books centered around the people and places of the Chesapeake Bay.