St. Joseph City Commissioners have indicated their support for an effort to dredge the St. Joseph River this spring.
Speaking to commissioners Monday, Berrien County Community Development Director Dan Fette said he’s been contacted by local marinas and charter boat captains.
“They seem to indicate that there were areas within the St. Joe River that because of the shoaling could potentially render it unmanageable for certain types of watercraft this summer,” Fette said.
Of particular concern is the area near the Tackle Haven docks and toward the south end of the island.
Fette said the county is not in a position to pay for dredging this summer, and neither is the city. Therefore, he’s advised marinas and dock owners to pool their resources to pay for the dredging using a county permit.
Due to state restrictions on river dredging in May, Fette said time is of the essence to get that permit.
“We would have to get an engineer on staff, get a permit prepared, get all of this engineering work done, get an application up to EGLE and the Army U.S. Corps of Engineers, and then hope that they can turn that around in an expeditious manner and get it issued sometime before May.”
Fette said he’s been speaking with the city of St. Joseph, Benton Harbor, and St. Joseph Township about the municipalities sharing the cost of the permit, which the county would secure for five years. It would be about $50,000 to be split among all parties. He wanted to know if St. Joseph Commissioners would be on board. They said they would be.
Fette will now begin seeking the permit to get dredging done before May.
