Barnstable County officials warn state dredge grant may be missing from governor's budget; committee urges swift outreach

Administrator Dutton told the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates' standing committee on public services that he has received indications the state dredge grant program may not be included in the governor's proposed budget and urged immediate outreach to the governor and legislators.

"There seems to be some indication ... the dredge grants ... will be going away in the next budget in the governor's proposed budget," Administrator Dutton said, urging towns, harbor masters and town administrators to contact their representatives and the governor's office.

The potential loss, Dutton said, would not eliminate local dredging work but could shift hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs to towns. He estimated Cape towns' benefits from state dredge grants can "amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars on an annual basis," while acknowledging he did not have statewide line-item totals on hand.

The committee also heard that the county's dredge crews are finishing a large Mashpee (Pampanasset) project with invoicing expected "in the $1,500,000 range," and that crews lost nearly half their planned dredge days this season to weather-related delays.

Committee members reviewed a permit-optimization study prepared for the county and distributed to the Dredge Advisory Committee. Dutton summarized the study's central findings: permitting delays are driven both by inconsistent local applications and by agency backlogs, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers repeatedly identified as a common choke point. Dutton said the Army Corps acknowledged those delays during recent meetings.

The study outlines options ranging from no change to a full county takeover of permitting. Dutton and the advisory subcommittee favor a middle approach in which towns retain application responsibility but the county provides pre-application guidance and actively follows up with reviewing agencies — a "squeaky-wheel" coordinator role intended to shorten timelines.

Delegates asked how such a coordinator would be funded. Dutton said the dredge enterprise has some budget flexibility and recommended building recoverable costs into project rates where feasible. Vice Chair Harder cautioned against reopening the recently adjusted rate schedule now, saying the committee had promised towns it would not raise rates for five years: "I really don't think discussing rates is what we should be doing right now ... I don't think we should mess with the rates for another 3 years or so," Harder said.

Delegates noted the same consultant, Anchor QEA, authored both the prior rate study and the current permit-optimization work. Committee members also discussed long-standing requests for administrative help to support the dredge program; a staff speaker confirmed the current fiscal-year budget includes a part-time position.

As a next step, the committee agreed to send a revised letter to Governor Healy and local legislators asking that dredge funding be retained or reallocated within the budget process. Vice Chair Harder moved that the committee recommend the revised letter to the full assembly for the December meeting; the motion was seconded, the clerk called the roll and it passed unanimously.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to recommend the revised letter to the full assembly (mover: Vice Chair Harder; second: unnamed): approved unanimously. - Motion to adjourn: approved unanimously.

The committee requested that Administrator Dutton provide the specific budget line item and an approximate dollar amount to include with the letter before the full assembly considers it.