Langley boat harbor design plans finalized

Published 9:00 am Saturday, August 20, 2005

Efforts to increase the public access to the city’s waterfront are moving forward

The city of Langley is working hard to finalize their plans for the boat harbor before Sept. 1, the cutoff day for a state grant that could help pay for improvements.

City Councilman Robert Gilman decided to give the Boating Facilities Program an extra push by heading up final design plans. Now, the city has to finish the budget elements to go into the grant.

The port has committed $100,000 to the project, and the city is seeking additional grant money from the state through the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation.

“The city is not in a position to put construction money into the project,” said Gilman. “The most the city is able to manage is to put some staff time toward the project.”

For years the city has sought to increase public access to the city’s waterfront, and their master plan was approved last year.

Design plans for the harbor were mostly in response to feedback from boaters and from city staff.

The city had an architectural firm design the original plans for the harbor. Gilman and others made some changes to this design to finalize the plan.

“We made the traffic flow that somebody with a boat would have to go through smoother,” Gilman said.

The design will include eight parking spots for vehicles with boat trailers, as compared to the three spots currently available.

Designers decided to switch the floating dock from the north to the south side of the boat ramp. This will prevent logs and other debris from piling up too close to the boat ramp.

Mayor Neil Colburn commended those who worked on the project, and made special note of Councilman Gilman for his leadership position.

“Without Robert we wouldn’t be as far along on the project as we are,” he said.

Another change to the original design is the decision to make the boat ramp slightly steeper, in hopes that this will prevent sand from building up on the ramp.

The next step for the city is to finish the budget for the plan. This must be done by the first of September in order to apply for the grant. In late September, city staff and councilmembers will travel to Olympia to present their proposal to grant officials.