Waterways committee asks presenter to draft dredging proposal for City Council

Ralph, a presenter to the Marco Island Waterways Advisory Committee, outlined a range of options for locating and addressing muck in the city's canals and recommended professional surveying (dual-frequency sonar and targeted coring) before seeking any large-scale dredging contract. He told the committee, “we need to know where it is and how much it is before you can start making decisions.”

Members pressed on costs and scope, noting selective approaches can reduce price but that larger programs could still cost tens of millions of dollars. Committee members discussed lower-cost tube coring and a professional bathymetric/muck survey to determine whether muck is concentrated in limited areas or widespread. Ralph said a focused professional survey would allow the city to define a bid package and avoid unnecessary dredging.

After discussion, a member moved that Ralph return to the committee with a specific proposal and package suitable for presentation to City Council; a second was called and the motion was discussed and supported. The committee agreed the next step is a concrete bid package (number of canals to sample, survey methods, and estimated costs) that the committee can either forward to council or use to pursue funding.

The committee did not adopt a final engineering specification or appropriate funding source at the meeting; members repeatedly stressed that surveying and clearer cost estimates must come before any construction contract or comprehensive dredging program.