Nahant looking for Preservation Act money to repair town wharf

NAHANT-The town could be looking for Community Preservation Act funds to repair the town wharf.Nahant Town Administrator Mark Cullinan said the wharf is not in danger of immediate failure under normal conditions, but it is something that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.?We would have to prohibit any heavy vehicles from that area in the spring,” he said. “It has to be replaced with the next couple of years at the latest.”Cullinan said Childs Engineering Corporation conducted a complete assessment of the town pier including using scuba divers for underwater inspection.According to the report compiled by Childs, much of the pier needs to be rebuilt due to degradation of the underlying supports.Cullinan said rebuilding the wharf itself is expected to cost approximately $377,000 and he expects it would cost an additional $200,000 to replace the building on the wharf, which houses the harbormaster office and town sailing program offices.?We’re looking at $600,000 for the entire project,” he said. “But this is something that needs to be done.”Cullinan said he has been in contact with the Community Preservation Committee regarding submitting an application to pay for the project using Community Preservation Act funds.He said the fund has approximately $200,000 in it, but the CPA allows communities to borrow money for projects and pay the money back with proceeds from the fund.The CPA was signed into law in September 2000 and it allows communities to tack a surcharge of up to 3 percent of the real estate tax levy. The money generated by the property tax surcharge goes into the Community Preservation Fund. The Act allows money to be spent on affordable housing, open space and historical preservation. All applications for CPA funding go to the Community Preservation Committee and in accordance with the state Community Preservation Act, the committee recommends how the money should be spent at Town Meetings, but it cannot spend any money without the approval of Town Meeting.Cullinan said the pier/wharf area was destroyed by a severe coastal storm in 1978 and it was rebuilt at that time. In 1993 the “No Name Storm” that ravaged the eastern United States wiped out the pier at the end of the wharf.?The pier that was taken out by the No Name Storm was rebuilt in 1993,” he said. “With the exception of repairing the wharf after storms very little work has been done on the wharf.”