Dredging to Improve Suisun City's Marina

REGULAR MAINTENANCE KEEPS MARINA VITAL

The Suisun City Marina is getting deeper day by day as two dredge rigs perform routine silt-removal to ensure this waterway remains Central Solano County's premier public marina.

The Roy G. Garren Construction team is working 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. six days a week to get thousands of cubic yards of accumulated silt out of the bottom of the waterway.

The dredge work also will clear Whispering Bay and the slough serving the homes along Marina Boulevard.

Improving the marina and keeping it suitable for a wide variety of boats is essential to the economic health of the Waterfront District, and the viability of the Solano Yacht Club, which routinely draws fellow boaters from across the Bay Area to Suisun City.

"It is a critcal asset that is more important than ever as we work hard to attract new restaurants and businesses to Harbor Square, solict new ventures to four remaining waterfront sites, and market to visitors to come and stay at our soon-to-be-opened waterfront hotel - all occurring during more than challenging economic times," said Recreation and Community Services Director Mick Jessop.

All work must be completed by December 31, 2008.

>>More on Suisun City's dredge work from Solano EDC>>

Suisun City Marina Dredging Approved

The silt and mud collected in the Suisun City Marina over the past 6 years will be sucked out in a dredging project that is expected to start Nov. 17.

The Suisun City Council unanimously awarded the $1.3 million project to Roy G. Garren Construction of Roseburg, Oregon, the lowest of three bidders who showed interest in the Suisun City job. The bid came in more than $300,000 lower than the engineer's estimate for the work.

The City Council met in a special meeting Tuesday to consider the contract because of the short window set by state and federal environmental regulators as to when dredging in the environmentally sensitive Suisun Slough can be conducted. Regulators limit any dredge work to the fall months to avoid peak spawning seasons for various species that make their home in the Suisun Marsh.

Improving the marina and keeping it suitable for a wide variety of boats is essential to the economic health of the Waterfront District, and the viability of the Solano Yacht Club, which routinely draws fellow boaters from across the Bay Area to Suisun City.

"It is a critcal asset that is more important than ever as we work hard to attract new restaurants and businesses to Harbor Square, solict new ventures to four remaining waterfront sites, and market to visitors to come and stay at our soon-to-be-opened waterfront hotel - all occuring during more than challenging economic times," said Recreation and Community Services Director Mick Jessop.

The dredging project will involve two dredgers working seven days a week for 18 hours each day to move 120,600 cubic yards of siltation from the marina to Pierce Island. The project includes the Marina Village marina area for which homeowners pay an annual assessment.