SNOW HILL – Grants are expected to fund improvements at Public Landing and George Island Landing in the coming months.
The Worcester County Commissioners this week approved Waterway Improvement Fund grants for both landings. At Public Landing, the grant will fund work to reduce the need for dredging. At George Island, the funding will allow engineering to proceed for a renovation of the facility.
“Boat landings provide our citizens with access to the water,” said Weston Young, the county’s chief administrative officer. “This state grant funding helps us protect and maintain that access.”
Staff this week asked the commissioners to approve grants for George Island Landing and Public Landing. The Waterway Improvement Fund Grant awarded for George Island Landing is for $75,000 and will be used to pay for engineering services for the planning phase for a complete renovation of the Stockton facility.
“The facility is in need of serious repair beyond the normal general maintenance,” a staff report to the commissioners reads.
The Waterway Improvement Fund Grant for Public Landing is for $200,000 and will help pay for construction services related to the retaining wall and rip rap at the facility. The work is intended to prevent erosion in the area and reduce the need for dredging in the canal.
Grant award letters from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) thanked local officials for promoting projects to build resilience into the state’s recreational water access network.
“As our waterfronts increasingly experience some of the first impacts of climate change, we are asking grantees to consider ways to build resilience into their projects and bid processes,” the letter from Maryland Department of Natural Resources Chesapeake & Coastal Service reads. “We encourage you to consider the impacts of nuisance and higher than high tide flooding, storm surge, storm water flooding, and future sea level rise in all aspects of your design to avoid or minimize the impacts to your project.”
The Waterway Improvement Fund was established in 1966 to fund projects that improve and promote the recreational and commercial capabilities and conditions of Maryland’s waterways for the general boating public. Funding for grants comes primarily from the excise tax paid to the state when a boat is purchased and titled in Maryland. Since its inception, the Waterway Improvement Fund has provided more than $330 million for over 4,600 projects at more than 300 public boating access sites, according to DNR.
