October 28 - Update: Dredging Postponed to August 2015
Dear Aeolians, thank you all for your cooperation in our efforts to dredge the Aeolian Yacht Club. Unfortunately at this time, our contract dredger has had to postpone the AYC marina dredging operation to the next dredging cycle, beginning August 2015.
Fortunately, our current permits and approvals from the various agencies are for 12 months to 10 years and will still be in effect for the next dredging window opening, which is August 1, 2015 to November 30, 2015.
To provide some background to the postponement, it is important to note that AYC dredging must take place, on average, every seven years. Dredging can only be done, in San Francisco Bay waters between August 1 and November 30, each year. This is because of various breeding cycles of protected species of fish, their particular habitat and the sort of damage that dredging could cause on these species sensitive life cycles.
A multitude of federal, State and local agencies are involved in the regulation and issuance permits for dredging in SF bay. These agencies include the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Bay Conservation Development Commission (BCDC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), City of Alameda and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Although these agencies seek to cooperate and coordinate, they are not required to do this thus making this permit approval process quite complicated.
For the current AYC 2014 dredge cycle, new resource agency disposal policies were enacted, new hazardous contaminant thresholds for material disposal were established and new dredging containment procedures were required that haven’t been required in the past for Aeolian Yacht Club dredgings. All of this complicated and extended the permit process. Issuance of all required permits was finally completed late in mid October thus making the 2014 dredging window of opportunity too short for our contract dredger. Late last week our dredging contractor officially postponed their operations in our marina until 2015.
So, for all these reasons, and despite all our hard work and best intentions of the membership, Board of Directors and dredging committee, the multitude of required permits were not finalized in the appropriate time frame to allow our contractor to properly dredge in the short dredging cycle window ending November 30, 2014.
The Board and Dredging Committee appreciate the participation of the general membership, bond purchasers and marina berthers in this long and difficult process. We look forward to being prepared to dredge in early August 2015.
Commodore: Jack Sherwood
Port Captain: Tom Charron
The Aeolian Yacht Club Dredging Committee
Dear Aeolians, thank you all for your cooperation in our efforts to dredge the Aeolian Yacht Club. Unfortunately at this time, our contract dredger has had to postpone the AYC marina dredging operation to the next dredging cycle, beginning August 2015.
Fortunately, our current permits and approvals from the various agencies are for 12 months to 10 years and will still be in effect for the next dredging window opening, which is August 1, 2015 to November 30, 2015.
To provide some background to the postponement, it is important to note that AYC dredging must take place, on average, every seven years. Dredging can only be done, in San Francisco Bay waters between August 1 and November 30, each year. This is because of various breeding cycles of protected species of fish, their particular habitat and the sort of damage that dredging could cause on these species sensitive life cycles.
A multitude of federal, State and local agencies are involved in the regulation and issuance permits for dredging in SF bay. These agencies include the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Bay Conservation Development Commission (BCDC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), City of Alameda and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Although these agencies seek to cooperate and coordinate, they are not required to do this thus making this permit approval process quite complicated.
For the current AYC 2014 dredge cycle, new resource agency disposal policies were enacted, new hazardous contaminant thresholds for material disposal were established and new dredging containment procedures were required that haven’t been required in the past for Aeolian Yacht Club dredgings. All of this complicated and extended the permit process. Issuance of all required permits was finally completed late in mid October thus making the 2014 dredging window of opportunity too short for our contract dredger. Late last week our dredging contractor officially postponed their operations in our marina until 2015.
So, for all these reasons, and despite all our hard work and best intentions of the membership, Board of Directors and dredging committee, the multitude of required permits were not finalized in the appropriate time frame to allow our contractor to properly dredge in the short dredging cycle window ending November 30, 2014.
The Board and Dredging Committee appreciate the participation of the general membership, bond purchasers and marina berthers in this long and difficult process. We look forward to being prepared to dredge in early August 2015.
Commodore: Jack Sherwood
Port Captain: Tom Charron
The Aeolian Yacht Club Dredging Committee
