Gloucester Times: Dredging in Works for Essex River, Moulton helps Ease Essex River bill through Congress

ESSEX — The Essex River shone in the cold sun Thursday for the announcement that Congressman Seth Moulton, who represents the 6th District — which includes Cape Ann — is sponsoring a bill that would clear the way for the town to clean up the Essex River channel.

The congressional bill, the Essex River Jobs and Recreation Act, would re-designate the boundaries of the federal channel so there would be no encroachment issues from piers and docks, freeing the town to dredge the upper part of the river as it approaches the downtown Causeway to allow better passage of watercraft.

“At low tides, not much more than a stand-up paddleboard can make it down this end of the river,” said Essex Selectman Lisa O’Donnell, who chairs the board, at the ceremony held at the Essex Marina on Dodge Street. “This obviously has significant impacts for public safety and the ability of our harbormaster to access the river from the town dock, behind us.”

O’Donnell highlighted that local businesses, beyond the obvious marinas and charter boats, rely on the river to draw customers to town by way of water.

The river hasn’t been dredged since 1987, she said, and in looking for ways to pay for the project, Town Administrator Brendhan Zubricki investigated how to apply for federal funding.

In November 2013, Town Meeting approved spending $30,000 to hire an engineering consultant to review the federal channel within the river, and subsequently CZA Geoenvironmental Inc. of Newburyport completed the study.

“We learned the Army Corps (of Engineers) wouldn’t fund any projects with encroachments into the navigable channel,” she told the audience. “With the original alignment, we had quite a few of these at all three marinas in the area, as well as several others further down the river.”

Business boost\

Bob Coviello, president of the Essex Merchants Group, said it is easy to see just how important the river is to the members. As he spoke the river ran by the deck behind what will be a new restaurant — Riversbend — at Essex Marina off Dodge Street\

“With just a quick look around,” he said, “from our vantage point, are three major marinas, Harold Burnham’s boatyard, the Story Shipyard, the Essex Shipbuilding Museum, the Town Landing, Essex River Cruises, and several waterfront restaurants and accommodations, all owing their success, in a large part, to their location on the Essex River,” Coviello said. “The Essex business community contributes over $1 million annually in taxes and fees to the town of Essex, which amounts to approximately 10 percent of the town’s budget.”

Thanks were handed around from police chief and harbormaster Peter G. Silva to state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and Moulton for all who worked together toward this common goal — the town of Essex, Ed O’Donnell of the Army Corps of Engineers, Peter Phippen with the Massachusetts Bay National Estuary Program, the Essex Merchants Group, and Zubricki.

“It was the partnership of the town administrator, the Board of Selectmen and Congressman Moulton that propelled this project forward,” said Tarr, who apologized for his voice being “under the weather.”

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