A marina in Freeport, Texas, will have to move part of its drystack boat storage facility, because the storage building sticks out onto land that has been earmarked for use by the state highway department. The boat storage building encroaches 22 feet onto land that will be used to construct the new Pine Street bridge. Freeport will have to spend $347,510 to move the offending section of the building.
Although the move will be expensive, members of the Freeport Economic Development Corporation (FEDC) were pleased with the estimate, saying that it would cost about $100,000 less than they expected. Despite their pleasure at the lower estimate, FEDC members are still not certain how they will pay for the relocation.
According to the Texas Department of Transportation, the drystack boat storage building was originally placed in the wrong location.
"The building never should have been put in that location to begin with," Freeport Economic Development Corporation president Dan Tarver told the Brazoport Facts. "We're just trying to find a solution to meet TxDOT's requirements and get the dry stack building going as quickly as we can."
The most expensive part of the project will be along the retaining wall next to the waterfront, the sheet metal walls, and the pilings. The FEDC will also have to pay for earthwork, sidewalk, windstorm certification and inspection, contingency budget, and civil engineering fees.
The FEDC initially planned to pay for the work with a $1.75 million loan, but that money ended up being set aside to pay for the installation of a fire suppression system and repairing boat rack bunker boards.
"I'm uncertain at this point how it's going to be paid for, but it has to be done to satisfy TxDOT's easement issue," explained Tarver.
Freeport Mayor Larry McDonald told the Facts that the city would not be paying for the move. "Somebody has to have some liability insurance, and I don't think the residents should have to pay for that," he said.
Regardless of who pays for the move, construction will not begin until after hurricane season ends in November, because moving the retaining wall will also entail reconstruction of the levee.
"If we had the levee in partial construction or had put the levee down and it had not had time to settle and you had a hurricane come in or a flood, it could wash through the levee," Tarver warned.
Many local self storage facilities offer boat storage that can supplement the drystack boat storage provided by the FEDC. For example, Extra Space Storage, in nearby Clute, offers boat storage.
Sources used:
Lukefahr, Nathaniel. "Marina building change estimate $350,000." The Brazosport Facts. April 17, 2010.
"Marina faces costly forced move of boat storage." Trade Only Today. April 19, 2010.