Marina Dock Age

A year and nine months after a Barnstable Harbor bulkhead in Mass., collapsed in a heavy rainstorm, a cost-sharing agreement between the town and the state will cover repair costs, according to a Dec. 22 report in The (Waltham, Mass.) Daily News Tribune. The state will cover up to 75 percent or $3.75 million for repairing the bulkhead.

As part of the 2010 capital plan, the Barnstable Town Council had already approved $750,000 for the bulkhead. The remaining $525,000 will come from the marina enterprise fund reserve account – a move unanimously approved by the council in late December 2009.

In March 2008, a storm caused a 30-foot section of the wooden bulkhead to fall into the ocean. Approximately 450 square feet of land in the harbor was lost. Though the town did take action to stabilize the bulkhead, the break continued to pose a safety hazard as exterior parking spots began to erode away.

Since the collapse of the bulkhead, the marina has lost close to 20 of the approximately 90 slips that were operating prior to the collapse.

The town hopes to begin the work prior to the start of the 2010 marina season, but there’s still concern about how much the work will disrupt marina operations, according to Ted Theodores, president of the Friends of Barnstable Harbor, a local group who worked to facilitate the bulkhead repair.