Saxon Harbor boat launch poured

By RICHARD JENKINS

[email protected]

SAXON, Wis. - While it's evident a lot of work stills needs to be done, Saxon Harbor's marina is beginning to take shape as workers poured concrete for the west boat launch Thursday.

There are roughly three to four weeks of work left on a $2.77 million contract with Roen Salvage to dredge the marina basins and rebuild various parts of the harbor that was destroyed in the July 2016 storm. The final marina contract, covering much of the marina's out-of-water work - such as a sidewalks, bathroom, shower building and parking lot - was advertised Thursday. That bid opening is scheduled for Sept. 27.

"That's the rest of the marina, that contract will complete the marina project," Iron County Forestry and Parks Administrator Eric Peterson said.

The final contract calls for work to be substantially completed by the end of next June, with final touches finished by the end of August - keeping the marina on its rough timeline of being finished sometime next spring or summer.

With the marina wrapping up, and various other parts of the Saxon Harbor project already completed, the only question mark remains the fate of the harbor's campground.

Peterson told the county board in August the latest campground plan hit a road block after the Federal Emergency Management Agency was taking issue with the cost of the design.

At the meeting he said it was premature to talk specific numbers, but FEMA estimated the original campground was worth roughly $658,000 and the new cost of $3.8 million was too much.

Peterson said Thursday FEMA decided the current campground plan would require a cost-benefit analysis, which he said was unlikely to work in the county's favor as there wasn't a history of "significant damage" to the campground prior to the 2016 storm.

"Since we've not had significant damage in the campground in the past, the odds of us coming out good in a benefit-cost analysis are not that great," Peterson said. "So most likely, FEMA will be capping our funding."

Peterson said the county continues to work with FEMA to determine what a project cap should be, after which the county board will have to decide how to proceed.

The decision won't be made at the September board meeting, Peterson said, as the cap number won't be determined by then.

The cap is based on an estimated project cost, Peterson explained.

"What that means is if the estimated project costs $1 million, we will get some percentage of that, depending on what we do," Peterson said, using a hypothetical figure. "You estimate the cost, and then you get paid a percentage based on that. But it's capped on whatever that number is."

Iron County would be solely responsible for any costs above the cap.