Reprinted courtesy of the Island Free Press, Jan. 17, 2020
By Catherine Kozak
With a freshly-signed agreement in hand, the Army Corps of Engineers next week finally will be able to do long-stalled maintenance dredging in Hatteras Inlet at the South Ferry Channel.
That was good news to members of the Dare County Waterways Commission, who said at their meeting in Manteo on Monday that vessels have lately been bumping and grounding in the channel.
“You see how quickly it changes,” said Commission Chairman Steve “Creature” Coulter. “Last month it was okay. This month it’s not.”
Brent Johnson, project manager for Dare County Grants and Waterways, told commissioners that a new survey of the channel had been completed on Jan. 9 and the Corps’ dredge Merritt was preparing to start the project this past weekend. But the dredge was called away unexpectedly on Friday to deal with an emergency project on the southern coast.
“So we were a day away from having the stars aligned,” Johnson said after the meeting in a telephone interview.
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