Swampscott harbor advisory board developing dredging plan

SWAMPSCOTT – Members of the Harbor Advisory Committee will give the selectmen an update on plans for a $600,000 facelift for the harbor on Wednesday evening.Selectman Richard Malagifra, who is the liason between the Board of Selectmen and the Harbor Advisory Committee, explained the harbor has been filling in for years due to tidal action and storm surges.He said the Harbor Advisory Committee is laying the groundwork for dredging of the harbor and development of a harbor master plan.Last fall, the Massachusetts Seaport Advisory Council approved $475,000 for the dredging project, which is expected to cost $570,000.Malagrifa said he expects the Harbor Advisory Committee would submit a Capital Improvement request to Town Meeting in the amount of $95,000.”We need to get an engineering study,” Malagrifa said. “We want another $100,000 to come up with a harbor plan so there might be two different harbor articles on the warrant (at Town Meeting) this spring. The beauty of a harbor plan is it gets filed with the state. It lets the state and developers know we are serious about the harbor and want more businesses on Humphrey Street.”Malagrifa said he hopes the dredging would help stimulate the local economy by improving access to Humphrey Street.”The harbor has been neglected for years,” Malagrifa said. “It has really filled in and needs to be dredged. I’m hoping the deeper water will increase access to the community by recreational boaters. The harbor plan would look at things like guest moorings for boaters who want to visit area businesses.”Vida Vasic, who owns Allo Allo Cafe with her husband Pedja Vasic, said she believes dredging the harbor and adding guest moorings is a wonderful idea.”It would be nice to offer guest moorings,” she said. “I don’t think there would be a big increase in business but it would be nice to have guest moorings for people who want to visit by boat. I am all about expanding and bringing businesses and people into the Humphrey Street area.”Paul Petersiel, who owns Red Rock Bistro on Humphrey Street, said it’s a great idea but he’s concerned about how it would be paid for.”Everything is worth looking at,” he said. “It’s great but where is the money coming from? This town has no money. I don’t want them to lay off a police officer or teacher to dredge the harbor. Without money it’s pie in the sky. They also need to think about how it will be promoted.”Milton Fistel did the preliminary engineering study that was used as part of the grant application. He said there is a big sandbar in the harbor off Lincoln House Point and the harbor is filling it to the left of the pier. He added the harbor has filled in so much over the years that there are very few places to moor boats more than 25 feet long and there is a waiting list for moorings for larger boats.Fistel said the dredging project would remove approximately 15,000 cubic yards of material from the harbor, which he said is the amount of sand 1,000 dump trucks could hold. Fistel said the sand would be pumped from the harbor to Kings Beach using a hydraulic dredge. He said it is called beach nourishment and it is designed to replace the sand Kings Beach lost to erosion over the years.