Funds OK’d to control erosion at lighthouse

Friday, Aug. 29, 2008

The lowest bid for the work was $692,000 — $270,000 more than was budgeted. That money came out of leftover funds from installing parking lots at the Chaptico Park.

There were six bids for the lighthouse erosion project, with the highest coming in at $1.3 million, said Phil Rollins, director of the department of recreation and parks.

Commissioner Larry Jarboe (R), who voted no, suggested that the project go back out for rebidding, but the other commissioners said time was not on their side because erosion is a constant process. ‘‘This is a huge cost overrun – 50 percent over what was budgeted,” he said.

If it wasn’t an erosion protection project, Commissioner Daniel H. Raley (D) said he would support rebidding it. However, ‘‘I’m going to vote for it because it’s erosion,” he said.

If it’s delayed, said Commissioner Thomas A. Mattingly Sr. (D), another tropical storm could hit this year and wash out the shoreline there at the museum grounds. ‘‘Once you’ve lost it, you’ve lost it forever,” he said.

Commissioner Kenny Dement (R) made the motion to approve and said that rebidding could result in a higher bid. ‘‘It could go the other way,” he said.

‘‘It is an extensive project,” Rollins said. ‘‘If we don’t do something it really does threaten the lighthouse.”

The work will start before the end of the year and will be done by barge instead of using Lighthouse Road, a stretch of waterfront cottages.

Four breakwaters will be installed at a total length of 725 feet, along with 215 feet of shoreline revetment and the creation of 1,200 square feet of marshland. The design has been under way since 2006, Rollins said, and the process was complicated because of the historic lighthouse and the proximity to the shoreline. The low bidder is Coastal Design and Construction of Gloucester, Va., but the contract hasn’t yet been awarded.

The Piney Point Lighthouse was the first one built on the Potomac River in 1836, according to the Maryland Historical Trust.