Dredging is not a done deal yet. But we are 99% there. All elements have basically been addressed and delt with. Once we have the Army Corp permit in our hands I can say it is 100% done. That should happen within the next day or two.

The current dredging project is for the marina mouth only. We were able to secure enough funding and the equipment to address this major problem. This will be a significant dredging of the mouth. It will remove silt, sand and mud from the marina mouth from where you make your right hand turn and out towards the green buoy. This dredging should also remove all the rocks that have been a navigation hazard inside the marina mouth by the west breakwater. Our target is to remove two to three foot depth in this target area. Another goal, if time and money permit, is to slightly widen the marina mouth by removing a small amount of material off the tip of the north breakwall. And, if time, money and equipment permit, we may also dredge along the north breakwall heading towards the ramp.

The equipment being used will include excavators and a barge that will need to park in the marina mouth to complete much of the work. And this is not a small barge. This will create some problems with boating while dredging is going on. See "THE SCHEDULE" below.

We are anticipating that dredging will take about two days. With the need of butting the barge into the breakwall for loading and unloading equipment, this whole process could take three to four days. Once the dredging is complete, the depth in the mouth should be more consistent with the majority of the marina (possibly slightly deeper).

This dredging project is not cheap. If we need to stop work so that vessels can leave the marina, the contractor will not be stopping the clock. Therefore we are asking for your cooperation. If you don't need to go sailing during the dredging time, please don't. Scullers, Kayakers, if you could find an alternative launch site that does not need to utilize the marina mouth, please do so. Maybe you can launch near the observation deck.

If we receive our permit when we are anticipating, then the dredging will begin this Monday. The barge will be showing up at the marina around noon on Monday. The barge will park itself in the mouth of the marina butted against the North breakwall. They will then begin loading equipment. During this time, the marina mouth will be blocked. Therefore, we will be closing access to the marina mouth by 11:00am on Monday morning. This closure will last all day on Monday. If you need to get your boat fix in, plan to be back in the marina by Monday morning at that time. Otherwise, you will be out, on the lake, overnight.

Dredging will continue Tuesday and possibly into Wednesday from 7:00am through 7pm. If for some reason you just have to get on the water, we have arranged that the dredging can stop at 10:00am and 2pm each day for 15 minutes. To utilize these time slots you must check in with the marina office or Harbor Master first so that we can communicate with the contractor. Remember, the clock on our costs keep running and it may cut into how much dredging we can do, if you utilize these time slots. Once all the dredging is done that can be done with the barge, we will check our depths and for obstacles. If we feel comfortable with the results, the barge will be unloaded and clear the marina mouth. You will then have access to the lake. This could be as early as Wednesday afternoon.