Ohio State Parks - Middle Bass Island Construction Updates

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Update 7/18/08

De-Watering:

De-Watering started Friday July 11, 2008 in the marina basin. As of July 18 the basin has been pumped down to just a few feet of water remaining in the main channel ways. The Ohio Division of Wildlife was on site July 17, with the electric shock boat assisting in collecting and moving native fish from the marina basin into Lake Erie. Work continues with Ohio EPA and the US Army Corp of Engineers to assure compliance with permits. This next week, we will finish the dewatering and we are planning to start removing parts of the center peninsula. The north parcel is our first area to have marina materials placed upon it. As we begin the deepening and shaping of the marina basin large equipment will be moving across Fox Road and hroughout the construction zone. Please help us have a safe project. Drive and bike carefully throughout the area.

Lake Erie Water Snakes:

We have relocated 250 snakes so far during this project. We appreciate the effort of Kristen and Keith who keep us on track with this aspect of the project - protecting an endangered species.

Dock Construction:

The project construction bids submitted by various contractors were "opened" July 10, 2008. There were several bidders and it is encouraging to see the interest in the project. We hope to have the "low bidder" chosen this next week.

Next Open House: Scheduled for July 28, 2008 3:00Pm - 4:30PM Just on the south side of Aunt Erma's in the shade.

Thank you,

Scott Doty

Regional Manager

Lake Erie Islands state Park

The following Items are excerpts from previous updates that I felt some would find of value.

Reminders:

· Special note: The Construction Zone is considered anything within the Snake Fence . Please remain outside of the fenced area as required by safety regulations of construction sites.

· The contractor has put steel plates on Fox Road where they are crossing over the road. This will protect the roadway from the heavy equipment crossing it. There are 3 crossing areas; 1 by Aunt Erma's, Just North of Jim Roesch's former marina and next to St. Hazards.

· Signs warning of truck crossings. A few other safety barrels will be erected for safety. We ask everyone to remember to drive carefully through the construction zones & remind others as well.

· Lake Erie Water Snakes - LEWS Kristin has a full time LEWS specialist, Keith Hanson. Keith will be on the island working alongside the contractor checking snake traps and where the heavy equipment is working within the snake fenced area.

· Keith and Kristin will be relocating any snakes found within the area to areas outside the fenced construction zone. We welcome Keith to the project. If you see snakes with some colorful paint markings (blue or green). These are ones they have relocated.

· Several questions that seemed to be asked more frequently than some others were:

· The marina will be deepened to 10 feet of depth

· The project is still on track with the marina to be usable next summer

· The marina will have a design capacity of around 340 slips, we will be planning on starting dockage of close to 240 (includes the yacht club)

· Seasonal dockage will be a part of the marina dockage plan.

· We will plan another open house next month.

06-22-08

Dock Construction:

The new dock construction "Pre-Bid" meeting was conducted 6/20/08. Approximately 50 people in attendance. Interested Contractors are to have their bids submitted by July 10, 2008. ODNR anticipates it will take approximately 60 days to give the contractor awarded the job, their notice to proceed.

Marina Construction:

De-watering of the marina basin is the next big step the project is preparing for. This will start in July. The East wall of the marina had been breached by weather this past winter. It has been "shored up" to allow pumping to start. The pumps are placed. Fall water levels are normally lower than spring and summer water levels.

The de-watering program is starting later than we had hoped. The reason for this delay was weather and permit related. The cold spring, and the later than anticipated ice thaw, not only resulted in the ferry boats delaying their start-up, it also slowed our contractor getting equipment to the island as well. Permits also have influenced our timing of de-watering. There is a restricted window starting April 15 through June 30 related to the spawning season of fish. Once we are past this restricted window we can begin to de-water the basin. The contractor anticipates de-watering the entire basin will take a week to 10 days.

Special note:

The Construction Zone is considered anything within the Snake Fence . Please remain outside of the fenced area as required by safety regulations of construction sites.

We currently anticipate having people from the Division of Wildlife on-site later this month, to help remove fish as the basin is de-watered.

Lake Erie Water Snakes (LEWS): Our Team reports over 200 snakes have been relocated already. The fence is working despite the raccoons damaging it in areas.

Water & Sewer Line Project: Easement agreements continue. We appreciate the, mature & cooperative efforts of all, as we discuss these issues with the respective property owners. Some property owners have decided against entering into an easement agreement.

Reminders:

The contractor has put steel plates on Fox Road where they are crossing over the road. This will protect the roadway from the heavy equipment crossing it. There are 3 crossing areas; 1 by Aunt Erma's, just North of the former marina and next to St. Hazards. We ask everyone to remember to drive carefully through the construction zones

Lake Erie Water Snakes:

LEWS Kristin Stanford has a full time LEWS specialist, Keith Hanson. Keith will be on the island working alongside the contractor checking snake traps and where the heavy equipment is working within the snake fenced area. Keith and Kristin will be relocating any snakes found within the fence to areas outside the fenced construction zone. We welcome Keith to the project. If you see snakes with some colorful paint markings (blue or green), these are ones they have relocated.

We will plan another open house next month.

Scott Doty

Regional Manager

Lake Erie Islands State Park

Posted - April 4, 2008

Just a quick update on a few items regarding the Middle Bass Island State Park Development.

Construction: Although the winter ice conditions did not let our contractor back on the island as quick as we had hoped, we are still well within our timelines of when we had expected things to get started back up • In 2 or 3 weeks we should be seeing our contractor there starting our next step in the marina basin project • This will include some things like:

Finishing the snake fence
Brush clearing
Checking on the status of things left in the fall

The construction effort is being staged to try and minimize the time the marina basin is closed • There will be a lot of work to be done once we get started • Based on everyone’s wishes to minimize the time the marina basin will be closed, the contractor will be working some longer days possibly 10 – 12 hour days as well as maybe 6 workday weeks • This is of course weather permitting and the equipment is working

Things you can do to help us:

REMINDER – any vehicles in the marina area and in the field lot by the old runway needs to be moved out by April 14^th • I know I have stated this before, but if there are any left please help with getting the word out
ODNR has been told by the contractor that as we start into construction this year the boats that “docked” in the old channel entrance will be a problem • Please do not dock your boats in this entry area • It is going to be used for the barges moving equipment in and out as well as materials • Any boats tied up to this area will be towed at the owner’s expense

We are planning on having some construction open house updates on the island this summer as the project progresses • Although this is in the idea stage at this time it is hoped that we can plan some dates when our planning team will be on the island and available to show the plans and answer questions regarding the progression of the project • As ODNR gets a schedule planned and dates set up we will put the information out for everyone to know in advance

Manager Scott Doty

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