Cotuit Dredge Milestones:

• Week of September 10, 2018: Natural Resources to conduct shellfish survey
• September 20, 2018: Anticipated date to issue Invitation for Bid for dewatering/beach  nourishment contractor
• September 24, 2018: Notify Misc. Agencies of Project Start
• October 11, 2018: Anticipated bid close date
• Week of October 15, 2018:
  • County Dredge mobilization
  • Contractor mobilization
  • Contractor strips vegetation and builds dewatering pits
• October 16, 2018: Beginning of Permitted Dredge Window
• Week of October 22, 2018: Dredging operations commence
  • Anticipate ±50 working days of dredging
  • County dredge operates 6 days a week, 10 hours per day
• January 15, 2019: Close of Permitted Dredge Window
• February 1, 2019: Nourishment cleanup/Demobilization complete

Update 8/25/18: The State awarded $3.6 million in grants to support ten dredging projects along the state’s coastline last week. The grants, awarded through 2018 Navigational Dredging Pilot Program, are expected to remove roughly 188,000 cubic yards of sediment from the harbors of eleven different communities.

Barnstable has been granted $1,000,000 to remove 44,000 cubic yards of sediment and coastal dune from the Cotuit Bay channel, increasing its width by 50-percent. The 2018 pilot program awards communities funding on a competitive basis, emphasizing on shovel-ready projects that already have secured permits from the local, state, and federal levels. The program also requires a 50-percent match commitment from municipalities receiving the funding.

Update: 7/26/2018

In the Matter of Three Bays Preservation, Inc. and Massachusetts Audubon Society, Docket No. 2017-020

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Presiding Officer has ruled in favor of Three Bays Preservation, Inc. in an 84-page ruling. DEP Commissioner Suuberg now has 30 days to adopt and certify this decision. Contact Barnstable Clean Water Coalition HERE to see a copy of this Recommended Final Decision. Counsel advises that once certified, phase 1 dredging could begin on October 15^th as the permits allow.

Among the many benefits of this restoration project, water quality, in Cotuit Bay, is expected to improve by three to seven percent. Great for people and birds! To date this permitting process has taken over six years at a cost of over one million dollars.