The Presque Isle Marina is pictured while waves crash over Marquette’s Upper Harbor breakwater on Wednesday. Construction at the marina began in early September and is well underway, with completion anticipated this fall. The $1.4 million project includes removal of the south pier and its fuel system, installation of floating piers, dredging mobilization, erosion control and more. (Journal photo by Cecilia Brown)

MARQUETTE — Work at the Presque Isle Marina at the north end of Lakeshore Boulevard is well underway and expected to be completed this fall.

The project, which began Sept. 3, has so far involved “removal of the south pier and the fuel system as well as the associated dredging of the area occupied by that pier,” Jon Swenson, Marquette’s Community Services director, said in an email.

With the south pier demolished, a single floating pier system with a minimum of 32 slips able to accommodate vessels 30- to 60-feet long will be constructed. The remaining work to be done at this point includes the “installation of the floating piers built by Flotation Dock Company and hooking up associated utilities,” Swenson said.

So far, the project is expected to be completed prior to the winter season and “everything is proceeding smoothly,” he said.

The new floating pier system at the marina is needed because bin walls at the marina have deteriorated since it was constructed in the 1970s, leading the city to submit an application in March 2017 to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Waterways Grant Program for the third phase of the Presque Isle dock demolition and floating pier installation.

“The work here has been a long time coming and the city would like to thank the boaters for their patience and flexibility and the state of Michigan Waterways grant program for their support,” Swenson said. “The state of Michigan has recently completed a statewide economic impact study on ports and harbors which highlighted the importance and value of Michigan’s waterfronts. Presque Isle Marina is an important facility to the recreational boating public and we look forward to opening next season with the second generation of this marina.”

The DNR grant agreement, which provided 50% of the project’s then-estimated $1.12 million cost, was accepted by the commission at a September 2018 meeting. The city commission then approved Coleman Engineering Co.’s proposal for design and construction oversight of the dock replacement at the marina in October 2018.

However, in November, the project was amended by the commission to include an additional amount of roughly $40,000 “due to an error in the state legislative process” and approved the grant agreement, committing $581,900 to reconstruct a new floating middle pier, finger piers with utilities and utility pedestals, according to commission notes from the city’s June meeting.

The initial $1.12 million project budget was further amended at the June meeting to include $277,800 in additional costs to be funded with the bond issued for the project, as the only bid received was the base bid of just over $1.4 million from Associated Contractors LLC in conjunction with Kokosing Industrial-Durocher Marine Division.

The approved bid includes pier removal, installation of a floating pier system, dredging mobilization, erosion control, removal of the existing pier fuel system, as well as the installation of riprap and removal of existing bin-type piers at the southern pier.

At the time, city officials said savings could be realized on the project if bin wall fill and dredge materials from the Presque Isle Marina project could be used within the Founders Landing pile reuse project and/or filling and site remediation at the We Energies’ Presque Isle Power Plant, as around $92,000 was budgeted for disposal of material excavated from the southern pier.

While it was hoped that savings could be realized in this way, “the timing, unfortunately, was not such that the fill could be used at either location,” Swenson said.

This is because the Presque Isle Marina project will be completed prior to the Founders Landing pile reuse project, as the permitting process for the roughly $5.8 million Founders Landing project — originally expected to begin this fall and be completed in the spring — has delayed the project, Swenson said.

“The (Michigan Department of Energy, Great Lakes and Environment) and (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) permit processes generally follow a set schedule, including a range of time allotted for input, review and approval once initiated. For Founders Landing we had hoped those processes could have been on the minimum side of that range but it looks like they will not be,” Swenson said. “We are now hoping to have the permits figured out prior to December, which would be too late for any work in 2019. Although it is early in the process, at this time, we are not expecting any deviation from the cost estimates.”

However, “if the project begins as soon as the ice allows in the spring, it would be reasonable to expect completion prior to December 2020,” Swenson said.

Cecilia Brown can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248.