Boating Facility Improvement Projects, July 4

The Oregon State Marine Board approved 15 grant requests for the Cycle One Boating Facility Grants program for the 2019-2021 biennium, during their quarterly Board meeting held on June 18, at the Marine Board office in Salem. Twenty-one applications were received from public boating facility managers from around the state, requesting nearly $8 million in recreational boating dollars, and $1.9 million available. On the South Oregon Coast, City of North Bend: Grant dollars were approved to replace and extend the boarding docks, add piles and a debris deflection boom at the California Street boat ramp.  The boating facility is nearly 20 years old and portions of the infrastructure are showing signs of fatigue and need to be repaired or replaced. The wooden boarding docks have large areas of rot, damaged sub-frame, broken bullrails, and floatation saturation, in addition to corroded hinges, brackets, pile assemblies, and piling.  The City has also identified a need to expand the number of docks by adding a dog-leg.  The boat ramp can be blocked for a significant amount of time while a boater parks or retrieves their vehicle during the peak season of use and the additional dock will improve efficiency.  The Marine Board approved $258,750 in state boater funds, combined with $464,787 of applicant match for a total project cost of $723,537. Most boating facility projects take time and multiple phases to complete based on the need for studies, permit applications, and design and engineering services.  It is not uncommon for improvements to happen slowly due to funding and permitting challenges, combined with the timing for in-water work periods, the cost of materials and services with fluctuating market values.  The Marine Board works very closely with grant applicants in every step of the process, from submitting the initial application to ribbon-cutting when a facility project is complete.  The Marine Board relies on willing partners who provide access to the recreational boating public by offering grant funding for boating facility project improvements, with registration and titling fees paid by motorized boaters.  In the future, non-motorized access grants will be awarded for improvements that support the needs of the paddling community, through revenue collected from the Waterway Access Permit, going into effect in 2020.