Spring seems to be park project planning season.
The park board approved concept plans for a playground at Schel Chelb Park last week. It also held a public hearing for a project to replace the dock at Hidden Cove Park and make small improvements to the uplands. Comments can be sent to Perry Barrett – perry@biparks.org – through May 28.
The public dock on Port Madison is getting a little long in the tooth, to put it lightly. Popular with kayakers, dog walkers and bored teens, the dock has become rickety and rotted in places. The float also grounds out regularly at low tide, a no-no in the eyes of state permitting agencies.
Here’s a rough synopsis of the two options the district is considering:
- Option 1: A 120-foot raised catwalk, leading to an 80-foot ramp, leading to a float parallel to the shoreline. This design has the advantage of remaining inside the park’s tideland area. Pile stops would be required to keep the float from grounding out at tides of 2.5 feet or lower. This means the float would be suspended several feet above the water (or mud) during very low tides. The rough estimated cost for this project is $550,000.
- Option 2: A 210-foot raised catwalk leading, to an 80 foot ramp, leading to a float perpendicular to the shoreline. This design would venture outside the park’s tideland area and would require a state tideland permit to build. It would have the advantage of placing the float in deeper water, where pile stops would not be required and ground outs would be rare. It would cost about $595,000.
