LYNN — State legislators have approved a bill that will establish a separate fund for dam and sea wall repair or removal, and Community Development Director James Marsh is already making a list of possible projects.
“What jumped out at me is wave control, which is the biggest issue for our harbor,” he said.
Seaport Marina, which is particularly vulnerable to southwesterly storms, has taken a beating over the last few years and has lost more than half of its available slips. Repairs and renovations are in the works but the waterfront Master Plan includes the construction of a break wall that would better protect the entire harbor, Marsh said.
Under the bill that legislators passed on New Year’s Eve, a $17 million fund would be set up to provide loans to communities to fix deteriorating dams and seawalls. The fund will be administered by the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and is aimed at financing coastal and waterway infrastructure projects including “but not limited to” dams, seawalls, jetties, revetments, retaining walls, levies and other means of flood control.
“I’m curious by the ‘but not limited to,’” Marsh said. “It’s pretty broad and we have all these things.”
It was just a year ago that Marsh sat down with a number of environmental agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers and Coastal Zone Management to discuss the idea of creating a break wall. The goal, laid out in the master plan, shows the barrier stretching from inside the channel at Point of Pines in Revere across the harbor to about the halfway point of the Nahant causeway. The idea is the barrier will protect the causeway, which is nearing the completion of a three-year renovation, the marina and the future site of the Lynn ferry. It could also protect any future marina or possibly a mooring field, Marsh added.
“It has great potential,” he said.
If the money isn’t there for a project as large as a break wall, there are other needs, Marsh said. Revetments, or structures built along the banks of the waterfront designed to absorb the constant blasts of wave action, also need work. Marsh said the ones that stretch from Blossom Street to the marina are largely formed of boulders and are in good shape but could use work. The wooden wall that runs along the banks and bluffs from the General Edwards Bridge to Blossom Street is crumbling in a number of spots.
“We could take a look at Lynn Shore Drive ”¦ I do know that some of the steps there are coming up and cracking,” he said.
For now the plans are simply a wish list since the bill is still on Gov. Deval Patrick’s desk. He has 10 days to sign or veto the legislation, if he does nothing the bill will automatically become law.
“Who knows what will happen with this,” Marsh said. “It’s still new.”
Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].
