Floats for the north harbour arrived in Powell River on Saturday, February 19. They were barged up from Bellingham Marine Industries Inc.
The next stage is to train staff who will be assembling the floats, said Stan Westby, City of Powell River’s chief administrative officer. That will be followed by pile driving and the installation of the floats in the harbour.
“This is a real feel-good stage that we’re at with all the capital work,” Westby told elected officials at the February 17 council meeting.
Dredging in the north harbour was completed by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) deadline of February 15. However, since work in the south harbour was not completed, the city applied for an extension and received it, Westby said, and staff is in daily contact with DFO. “They’re giving us day-to-day permission to move forward,” he said. “We’re very close to being out of the water, except some of the excavation has turned out to be a little more difficult.”
There’s a plan to work from the shore to complete the work, but if there is a fisheries event, for example a herring spawn, work would have to stop.
Meanwhile, Sam Sansalone, owner of Powell River Outdoors, said he remains frustrated that the north harbour boat ramp is still closed. “Enough excuses,” he said. “It’s been almost half a year.”
He has a small business, Sansalone said, and he’s struggling to survive. “My main artery has been severed,” he said. “It’s been five months that I’ve been bleeding out and I’m almost done.”
The north harbour boat ramp has to remain closed for safety purposes, Westby said, adding the city is discussing the issue with the contractor to reopen it “as quickly as we can.”
Councillor Dave Formosa said he has been told the reason the boat ramp is closed is because DFO has insisted that the silt curtain stays in place and is not removed. The curtain keeps turbidity created as a result of dredging from spreading.
Westby said the ramp was closed as a result of a combination of all the issues, but the biggest concern was safety. The contractor, Ruskin Construction Ltd., has the responsibility for the entire site, he added, and is responsible to WorkSafe BC. “Quite frankly, with all of the work that is going on down there, I wouldn’t pull a boat through that particular area at this time.”
Westby also reported on the progress of the habitat feature, the extension of the salt marsh from the south harbour to the former barge terminal. “We had a problem with about 4,000 cubic metres of material that needed to be disposed of,” he said. “It’s all relatively clean, so we came up with a plan with the environmental consultant.”
The material was used to create terraced slopes along the shore, which is “absolutely perfect for doing the marine environment and putting the eel grass in through there,” said Westby.
