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Designated Port Area Bulletin - January 1998 To help seize the economic opportunities of the 21st Century, Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management (CZM) continues to work with the four major ports outside of Boston Harbor (Gloucester, Salem, New Bedford/Fairhaven, and Fall River) on port planning and dredge planning. The Seaport Advisory Council, chaired by former Congressman Peter Torkildsen, unanimously endorsed this approach and recommended full funding for the continuation of these efforts through the Seaport Bond. On behalf of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA), CZM (in addition to several other state agencies) is administering the distribution of Seaport Bond funds for these and other projects. An update of activities on these major initiatives is given below.
Massachusetts' Port Planning Initiative Consistent with Governor Cellucci's Seaport Action Plan, Port Plans are being developed for Gloucester, Salem, New Bedford/Fairhaven, and Fall River. This Four Ports Initiative is being undertaken by CZM, on behalf of EOEA Secretary Trudy Coxe, and is being coordinated with the Dredged Material Management Initiative (see below). The first step in port planning, which has been completed in all of the four ports, is to develop a scope, or work program. The second step, which is currently underway, is to develop the port plan based on the scope. Both the scope and the plan are submitted to the Secretary of EOEA for approval. An approved plan allows a municipality to have greater flexibility in implementing a development strategy tailored to its port's needs and the community's vision. It also identifies fiscal needs for publicly owned infrastructure critical to the plan's implementation. The four ports have completed the scopes for their port plans over the last year. Here is an update on the activities conducted by each community over the last few months: New Bedford/Fairhaven - New Bedford/Fairhaven was the first port to complete a scope, which was approved by the Secretary in February. Since then, CZM executed a contract with New Bedford/Fairhaven for local management of the planning project, a harbor plan, and an economic/market feasibility study of a freight ferry terminal in the harbor. New Bedford/Fairhaven selected the local project manager, Peter Kortright, who began work this summer, and the harbor planning consultant, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB), which started in September. Also on VHB's consulting team are: RKG Associates, Gillham Gander and Chin, and Childs Engineering. The New Bedford/Fairhaven Harbor Planning Committee has met seven times. A public informational meeting was held with business and property owners and other users of the harbor to inform them of the planning effort and to begin to solicit their ideas on the harbor's future. The first of three Harbor Planning Workshops was also held and VHB presented some of its findings regarding the current activities and situation in the harbor. Also at that meeting, attendees were given the opportunity to express ideas on how the harbor could be changed to increase economic opportunities in the future. There have also been "Working Group" meetings with members of the Seafood Processes Industry, Recreational Boating Industry, and the proposed New Bedford Aquarium project proponents. Work has also begun to develop the information needed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help justify the need for federal dredging of the navigational channel. Finally, discussions have begun with the Steamship Authority about future freight ferry service to the Islands from New Bedford Harbor. Over the coming months, VHB will begin developing alternative development scenarios for the Harbor Planning Committee to consider. Gloucester - Since Gloucester's scope was approved in June, CZM and this community have been busily working to get the pieces into place so that port plan development can proceed. EOEA executed contracts with Gloucester for the development of a harbor plan and for project management/coordination services. Gloucester selected Dale Brown as project coordinator and ICON Architecture as the harbor planning consultant. ICON's team includes FXM Associates, New Atlantic Development, Seafood Datasearch, Regina Villa Associates, and Fay/Spofford/Thorndike. The Harbor Plan Advisory Committee held its first meeting with Ms. Brown and representatives from ICON on December 1. Discussion focused on an overview of the plan development process and schedules; informational needs and outreach; and measures of success/group goals. The next meeting will be held on January 5, when the committee will discuss a program for community outreach, to include a series of workshops, newsletters, and a media strategy. Salem - Salem's scope was approved by the Secretary in June, and since that time, EOEA executed contracts with Salem for project management/coordination services and the development of an approved Salem harbor plan. In November, Salem selected Fara Courtney as project coordinator and Cecil & Rizvi, Inc. as harbor planning consultant. The consultant team also includes VHB, Byrne McKinney & Associates, Nucci Vine, Impact Research Associates, Bermello, Ajamil & Partners, Inc., Urban Harbors Institute, Harbor Consultancy International, and Management Strategies Limited. The Harbor Planning Advisory Committee met on December 18 with Ms. Courtney and representatives from the consultant team. The meeting outlined a project schedule and logistics and a draft strategy for involving the public in the harbor planing process. CZM is working with the city to develop a scope of services for the second phase of the pre-development engineering studies for the Port of Salem Expansion project (new Salem wharf) to be funded by monies released in October by the Seaport Council. Fall River - The scope for the Fall River Harbor Plan was approved by Secretary Coxe in June and CZM executed contracts with the City to fund plan development and local management of the planning project. The local project coordinator, Mike Ferreira, was quickly selected and began working on this project in July. Fall River selected Cecil and Rizvi, Inc. as the harbor planning consultant in October. Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., RKG Associates, and Nucci Vine Associates are all included on this consulting team. The Cecil and Rizvi team has begun work on the planning process. Fall River has also finished establishing a Dredging Subcommittee to the Harbor Planning Committee. This Subcommittee will play a key role in all dredging decisions made in the planning process and will actively coordinate with CZM on the Dredged Material Management Planning Process.
Massachusetts' Dredged Material Management Initiative To address dredging needs along the coast, CZM is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a statewide Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP). The DMMP will identify and permit disposal alternatives with sufficient capacity to accept dredged material unsuitable for unconfined ocean disposal from public and private dredging projects over the next 20 years. The DMMP is focusing on Gloucester, Salem, New Bedford/Fairhaven, and Fall River to coordinate with the Four Ports Initiative. Phase 1 of the DMMP, the inventory and analysis of existing conditions, was completed in October on time and on budget. The information developed under Phase 1 will be essential to completing the Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) during Phase II. The EIRs will identify permittable, long-term disposal sites for dredged material from the four urban ports. CZM released a Request for Responses (RFR) for a contractor to conduct Phase II in October and received three responses representing 25 individual firms. CZM is in the process of selecting a contractor. It is expected that the selected contractor will begin work in January, 1998. The Phase II EIRs will focus on sediment characterization, natural resource identification, and a disposal site alternatives analysis. The EIRs, and particularly the identification of potential disposal sites, will be coordinated with the cities through the port planning process. This coordination is important because CZM will, through the EIRs, provide the technical information necessary to identify disposal sites and will make recommendations based on that information; however, it will be the responsibility of the port cities themselves to determine the appropriateness of any given site. The tentative schedule for Phase II, subject to available funding and community consensus on a disposal site, is for permittable disposal sites to be identified and approved by EOEA in December of 1999. The four ports will meet on January 7 to discuss Phase II of the DMMP. Harbor planning committee chairpersons, dredging subcommittee chairpersons, project coordinators, and consultant teams will attend.
Status of Other Seaport Initiatives In Fiscal Year 1998 (which begins on July 1, 1997 and runs through June 30, 1998), nearly $5 million in the Seaport Bond funds will be made available for local port initiatives. CZM will administer the following projects. An approximate timeline, based on discussions with local representatives and contract agreements, is given for these projects.
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