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Originally Posted by Franco
Didja go out of St Lucie Inlet?
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Yep. It's the closest one. It's very tricky with an outgoing tide and 20+easterly winds. Waves stack up.
Then there's this situation going on....which makes it even worse.....(story)
Corps warns dredge operator to begin work on St. Lucie Inlet
By SUZANNE WENTLEY
[email protected]
December 19, 2006
STUART — With dredging at the dangerous St. Lucie Inlet still on hold, Army Corps of Engineers officials on Monday issued a threatening warning to the dredge operator demanding that work begin.
Meanwhile, local boat owners, marina owners and fishing guides have begun a letter-writing campaign supporting the corps' tough stance.
"I am getting a whole bunch of letters," said Rick McMillen, the corps' project manager. "We have put him on notice that we're not happy with his performance."
McMillen said he is sending the Illinois-based Great Lakes Dock & Dredge an "interim unsatisfactory performance appraisal," the first formal step taken to make it more difficult for the dredging company to secure work from the federal government in the future.
Great Lakes, which has a $10 million contract with the corps to remove 600,000 cubic yards of sand from the clogged inlet, was expected to begin the work Dec. 5.
McMillen said the company's equipment was broken and hasn't been repaired.
Bill Hanson, an executive with Great Lakes Dock & Dredge, said the work would be completed.
"We are talking to the corps about our schedule, and we will get the job done," he said. "We would be disappointed if the corps wrote a letter of unsatisfactory service, but we cannot comment further."
Still, it seems unlikely that the work needed to clear the inlet of the shifting sands that serve as navigational hazards would begin Jan. 1, the date Treasure Coast boaters are demanding be a firm start date.
"We have 17,000 boaters and 3,000 visiting vessels in this area. When they find out that their recreational pastime is being compromised, they might get in arms more than they have," said Arthur Cox, the co-owner of A & J Boatworks in Port Salerno. "Boaters get mad. That's my opinion."
According to the contract, Great Lakes has until March 6 to complete the work without being forced to pay fines to the corps. If they don't complete the work by April 30, the start of sea turtle nesting season, the dredge equipment will be forced off the beach immediately, McMillen said.
McMillen said if that occurs, a permanent unsatisfactory appraisal will be issued — making it more difficult for a representative of the company to compete in the corps' bidding process.
"He doesn't want this black mark on his record," McMillen said. "It's not my fault that he doesn't show up on time. It's his responsibility."
WANT THE INLET DREDGED?
Area boat guides and owners started a letter-writing campaign encouraging officials to take a tough stance on the dredging delay. Here's how to participate:
E-mail the project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers, Rick McMillen, at
[email protected]. Learn more at
www.stlucieinlet.com.