Downtown business owners, preservationists press council on City Dock resiliency and pump maintenance

Business owners and preservation advocates pressed the Annapolis City Council on Feb. 10 to prioritize flood resiliency and pump maintenance at City Dock and to address concerns raised by the harbor master about a proposed waterfront building.

Speakers said recurring downtown flooding and what they described as neglected pump maintenance have left some businesses repeatedly waterlogged and argued the council should focus on resiliency measures before approving new construction. Anne Covington, speaking on behalf of Historic Annapolis, said the organization supports resilience work but criticized city plans for a large new building at City Dock and said the harbour master’s operational concerns have not been addressed.

"For 2 and a half years now those of us who have business downtown have lehi with the city to make sure that the pump system ... is not maintained and it doesn't work," a downtown business owner said, describing repeated flooding in front of his store. He offered to provide photographs showing sump pits and pump conditions. Lisa Hillman, a downtown property owner, urged the council to "fix the flooding" first and to read a November memo from the harbor master to the Maritime Advisory Council that, she said, raised sight-line, security and safety concerns for the proposed building.

Anne Covington, speaking for Historic Annapolis, said the organization has supported resiliency efforts for years and that it does not oppose improvements but does oppose what it sees as an "over-scaled" building that is unrelated to resiliency and could harm a historically important waterfront structure. She also noted the city has not yet officially secured FEMA funding for the project and said, "Resiliency should come first."

Tim Leahy, a longtime downtown resident, asked the council to break the City Dock flood-protection project into phases and to use council influence with the city manager and departments to move preexisting resiliency work forward. He said the Merite Welcome Center design does not meet the harbor master’s requirements and may be larger and costlier than necessary.

Council members did not make a final decision on the project during the meeting. Public comments on the dock and pump system were presented during the general public comment period; some speakers asked the council to inspect and repair the pump system that initially reduced barricade deployments downtown in earlier years.

Council staff and members referenced ongoing committee and permitting processes for City Dock work but did not announce any new funding commitments or formal actions tied to the public comments at this meeting.

The comments brought forward both immediate operational concerns — requests to inspect and repair the existing pump and sump system downtown — and broader planning concerns about the scale and function of proposed City Dock buildings. Several speakers urged the council to engage the harbor master and other professional staff in design decisions before moving forward with permanent construction.

Council committees listed on the agenda include forthcoming committee hearings that could revisit elements of the City Dock work; no formal council vote on City Dock design or funding occurred on Feb. 10.