The cost to build a boat ramp at Mitchell Field could rise to nearly $2 million, more than twice as much as a previous estimate.
Moreover, the town risks losing almost $360,000 in grants for the long-planned project as the state grows impatient with a lack of progress toward construction.
Select Board Chair Kevin Johnson had a one-word reaction to the new estimate: “Yikes.”
Town Planner Mark Eyerman told the board on June 6 that he reached that new figure after tabulating updated construction costs, inflation, new engineering fees, and a potential six-figure payment to the state for disturbing wetlands.
In 2023, Eyerman put the full cost of the project at approximately $850,000. The plan includes a boat launch that will be usable at all tides, floats, an access road and turning area, new parking, a stub pier that could be used to add a wheelchair-accessible ramp and floats in the future, and other elements.
Eyerman described three new costs that contributed to the ballooning price tag.
The largest comes from an updated estimate of the construction cost from GEI Consultants Inc., the town’s engineering firm for the project. GEI told Eyerman it predicts construction of the boat launch and pier will cost $1.25 million, while the parking area will cost between $100,000 and $263,000, depending on if it is paved or not.
GEI also budgeted a $300,000 contingency to cover unexpected construction costs. Eyerman said the town typically budgets 10% for contingency, which would be around $150,000 in this case, but GEI suggested that this project has significant unknowns.
Eyerman estimated that building costs will rise another $100,000 by 2025 due to inflation. Altogether, that comes to more than $1.7 million for construction, on the low end.
Construction was estimated to cost less than $800,000 in Eyerman’s 2023 description of the project.
Another new cost comes in the form of a fee from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Eyerman said he was told that Harpswell could owe as much as $116,858 because of the ramp’s impact on eelgrass and shellfish habitat.
That potential payment seemed to take town officials by surprise. Eyerman told the Select Board that the project’s previous engineer, Barney Baker, had suggested that the environmental impacts of a new boat ramp might be offset by the demolition of an old pier in 2018.
Baker’s suggestion, Eyerman said, was apparently based on informal discussions Baker had with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The state department’s deputy commissioner, David Madore, said it has accepted the offset, and the Army Corps is requesting the fee.
Baker joined GEI Consulting in 2022, and the Mitchell Field boat ramp project was transferred to a new project manager.
Eyerman said the Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps now deny there could be any such offset for the boat ramp’s construction.
Finally, GEI requested an additional $18,000 for engineering costs and permitting related to expanding the turnaround area at the launch to accommodate large vehicles. Harpswell has paid GEI about $66,000 for the design so far.
Town officials expressed frustration about that charge in particular. “$18,000 is a high proportion of $66,000 for making one circle bigger,” Select Board member Jane Covey said.
Town Administrator Kristi Eiane said she communicated Harpswell’s displeasure with the request to the head of GEI’s Portland office, who felt the added charges were not beyond the norm.
GEI did not respond to questions from the Anchor.
Mitchell Field Committee Chair Spike Haible suggested that if the turning area needed to be larger, it was the engineer’s fault for not designing it correctly in the first place. But he said it may be time for the town to scale back its plans for the project, perhaps forgoing the stub pier until some later time.
Select Board member David Chipman called it frustrating that the town had gotten this far into the project but still seemed far from finishing it. Johnson took a slightly different tack, comparing the project to digging a hole. “Sooner or later you might have to stop,” he said.
The town has about $460,000 set aside for the project, according to Treasurer Terri-Lynn Gaudet. Harpswell also has grants from the Maine Department of Transportation worth nearly $360,000 to pay for the boat ramp and pier.
The grant, however, may be in jeopardy if Harpswell does not request bids for construction by July. Eyerman said the Department of Transportation is concerned about the project’s lack of progress.
The Select Board directed Eyerman to talk to the Department of Transportation about the possibility of extending the grant. The board said it would discuss the grant, as well as any new information about the possible environmental impact payment and the additional engineering costs, at a future Select Board meeting or workshop.
“I don’t know what else to do,” Johnson said.
