CAMDEN — The Camden Select Board Tuesday night unanimously approved moving the initial phase of the town's public landing improvement project forward, to include purchasing and installing a new one-ton fisherman's hoist.

At their regular meeting Feb. 17, the Select Board heard from the project's contractors, Kathy Kern, senior project manager of T.Y. Lin International of Falmouth, and Daniel Bannon, project manager of Baker Design Consultants in Freeport. Kern and Bannon provided an update on the status of the project, as well as fielded questions and comments from select board members.

Members of the community were also invited to give their feedback before the team moves to a final design in preparation for the March 5 Planning Board meeting. They hope to get final approval of the design and project at that meeting. Members of the Harbor Committee as well as commercial boat owners also shared their concerns.

The Public Landing project follows several years of designing reconfigurations of the busy and popular harbor front, where tourists mingle and congregate, and boaters and fishermen park their commercial vehicles, work and move to and from their trips on the water.

Beginning in 2013, T.Y. Lin International held public forums on their proposed concepts for the landing, as well as the Riverwalk along Megunticook River. Tuesday night, Town manager Patricia Finnigan said that there was an "extensive and participatory process" to get people's thoughts on the highest and best uses of the Riverwalk and the public landing.

Driving the design for the public landing were its general purposes: To continue its use as a working waterfront, that it be welcoming to visitors, recognize its importance to Camden's downtown economy, and acknowledge its seasonal use.

Camden had received two $15,000 grants the previous year to create the designs. From the outset, the design was for both reconfiguring the working waterfront area for fishermen, to include a new hoist, and to make it safer for and less obtrusive by pedestrians, who might still enjoy watching the work. The design also called for a new boardwalk, which would address the current boardwalk's deficiencies, such as poor drainage, and a lack of lights and electrical outlets.

Tasked with getting the Select Board and the community up to speed on the project, Kern said Tuesday night that they were at a critical stage, "before final, final designs are done, we need feedback from you and the public before we can proceed."

Kern said the only footprint difference between the three earlier submitted designs and the one before them that night was the public area in the center of the parking lot. With each new incantation, they tried to maximize parking along the boardwalk while subsequently reducing parking in the center.

As they moved through the design process last year, she said that former development director Brian Hodges was working with them, and began asking for the cost of the hoist and other pieces.

"So we started working on those costs," said Kern. "We did not realize at the time that he [Hodges] was applying for a SHIP [Small Harbor Improvement Program] Grant. Then he called us and said he was really happy that the town had been given the grant [on Jan. 29, 2014], and it was for $68,500, with a matching of 50 percent [by the town], for a total of $137,000."

But in fact, she said, the project would cost substantially more because the project cost at that stage did not include demolition of the existing boardwalk, a lot of the parking lot work, drainage, electrical conduit work, design costs and construction inspection and contingencies.

She told the Select Board that after the preliminary design work was done, closer to $400,000 was the real cost estimate, "much more than originally secured by the SHIP Grant."

She said that with the knowledge that they had less money to work with, but knowing what the town's goals were, they were able to make some modifications, but in many places they could not.

"We were able to look at the grades in our conceptual plan, and hoped to keep the boardwalk at grade, but with the drainage issues, it made sense to raise it, which increases cost. That is normal as you finalize your design," said Kern.

One ray of light came out of discussions they had with the fishermen, who would be the ones using the hoist and the work area around it. The original design called for a 10-foot by 12-foot stub pier, which was considered a key feature because it would help separate the work of the fishermen from the pedestrians and tourists. The idea, she said, was to increase safety, while keeping the fishermen from being bothered by pedestrians, while still allowing people to watch their work from a distance.

Right now, she said, all of the fisherman's work is done on the existing boardwalk.

"We had two meetings with them, and they were very willing to listen and we assured them this project was not about the tourists," said Kern. "They didn't like the stub pier though, because they did not want to lose a float to accommodate it."

Kern said she assured the group that the goal was to improve the commercial aspect of the harbor, not just make it better for tourists, and that they would take their comments to heart.

Armed with changes, she said they went back to the fishermen, and "they hated it."

"I know a lot of people were thinking we would have a hoist last year. The stub pier required DOT and Army Corps inspections and we got them, we got the submerged land lease, but you know what, if the users are going to absolutely hate having it [hoist] on a stub pier, it's not going to be doing the town any favors so the decision was to remove it."

Knowing that the actual project cost was close to $400,000, Kern said she went to Finnigan and said, "How can we help, how do we move this forward?"

"We currently have a design quite far along for the entire boardwalk, which is the first phase. We need to discuss the design, but also about the phasing, and what the town can get for that $138,500 that the town and DOT will share. How can we do this so it covers the construction costs, covers design fees and construction inspection, and so you have key features in place," said Kern.

Through that discussion, Kern and Finnigan approached the DOT representative and said that the original SHIP Grant called for cable railings, a boardwalk, a stub pier and a hoist. Now with no stub pier, and no money to construct the cable rail or the boardwalk, could the fender pile replacement project, slated for a later time, be swapped in as an alternate marine feature covered by the grant.

"The DOT said definitely," said Kern.

As it stands, Kern said the reconfigured design put together with Bannon and his firm, that moves all of the boardwalk work to a later time, is something they feel really good about, and that should make everyone happy for a first phase plan.

She said that means the design should provide the hoist, as well as ancillary features likes lighting conduit and electrical outlets.

"It should be designed so that when you are ready to go forward, the boardwalk design on both sides of that will tie in well," said Kern.

She said that this first phase plan allows ample opportunity for input, like they have received from various groups, boards and committees, for the boardwalk second phase plan.

"Right now it will be another year or two before you build that boardwalk, so there is plenty of opportunity to review what we have done to date, that if you have other ideas they can be considered in the future," said Kern.

As for the future boardwalk, Bannon said the current design is in response to requests for more capacity, improvement for a wide range of users, maintain a central landing area – at the gangway to the windjammer dock – to accommodate large amounts of pedestrian traffic.

The design also addresses requests to improve the view of the harbor from Commercial Street, said Bannon. Commercial Street intersects with Bay View and Elm streets at Cappy's Chowder House. That intersection is laden with foot traffic, and often pedestrians don't realize it's the access to the public landing until they pass by it.

"The harbormaster's building is right in the view shed, and it would be an improvement to shift that over," said Bannon. "It would also give Steve [harbormaster Steve Pixley] a good view of all the areas of the harbor."

Increasing the elevation of the boardwalk, to match the boardwalk in front of Sharp's Landing/Peter Ott's, will ease the ponding and drainage issues that occur during rainy times.

When asked by the select board if the design accommodated the existing, and this year oft used, 20-foot-wide paved snow dump area by the central landing, Bannon said yes, it does.

"We made sure to retain that, and actually widened that area to create an overall larger working waterfront area," said Bannon.

In addition to widening the boardwalk and keeping the working area free of pedestrian flow, the plan calls for cable railings in all but the working areas where access to move things over the top of the bulkhead in and out of the harbor.

"The thin typical marine railing cable rail, this was selected because it provides some safety but does not impede the view," said Bannon.

Pedestrian lights would also be added, spaced between the existing posts, at about every 16 feet.

Moving back to the design for phase one, Bannon said that the hoist is positioned now where the fishermen want it, and based on comments received from member of the harbor committee and fishermen, a one-ton hoist meets their needs.

"We have spoken with local fabricators, but we are not at the stage of selecting a manufacturer at this point because the project is being funded by MDOT, it involves public funds and needs to go to bid," said Bannon. "But if the town knew exactly what it wanted, it could be procured directly by the town [without the bid process]."

Select Board member Jim Heard asked if the cable railing was a requirement for any of the money coming from the SHIP Grant.

Bannon said no, there was no requirement for a railing. "There has been feedback that there should be railings and some opinion that there should not be. I think it's a good idea for safety, but it would come down to the local code enforcement officer to decide if it's a safety issue for the town," he said.

Select Board member John French asked if a cable railing, at 42 inches high, might become a worse hazard by creating a seat at that height.

"That a good, interesting point," said Kern. "We can look at where it's been used and what they have seen and done."

Bannon also said that the entire design is aimed at making it as Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant as possible. As such, they have provided ramps to onto the boardwalk as many places as necessary.

He said that the ADA does not require a railing either, but if the town decides to include one, the ADA will require it follow their design criteria.

Harbor Committee Chairman Gene McKeever told the Select Board that there is no railing now, so the committee's feeling is to have no railing.

Finnigan said that the town's insurance carrier strongly advises a railing, but in the end, it's up to the Select Board.

"They have been advising that for a long time," said French.

With Select Board approval Tuesday night, Kern said that the DOT is allowing them to submit both the draft and final plans to them, to help speed the progress of the work. Bannon said it would be about a one-month lead time to locally construct the hoist.

As for a schedule for the hoist portion of phase one, Bannon said they would have a contractor on site the week before Memorial Day, and then the Friday after Memorial Day install the hoist. The fender pile replacement, she said, could happen after the season, in the fall.

She said that the power lines would all be moved underground in conduit from the power panel to the hoist, and also in conduit to the harbormaster's office.

"You will have the hoist, electrical, some parking lot modification and fender pile work done, and you are ready to go to a next phase, which is building the boardwalk," said Kern.

Harbor Committee member Ben Ellison asked the town to be mindful of the planters being proposed on the current design. He said the current planters are high, they provide shade and block both sound and visuals of the parking lot for those sitting on the benches in front of them.

"Don't make presumptions about the boardwalk, it shows planters on the boardwalk, not off the boardwalk like we have now," said Ellison. "I think all the benefits of what we have now will go away if we go with small pots."

Ellison said he is also concerned about elevating the boardwalk, which means that ramps to the floats are going to be "even more problematic" than they currently are.

"And be elevating, can people still sit there and watch the harbor/float activity," said Ellison.

Ray Williamson, a Harbor Committee member and also owner and operator of Maine Windjammer Cruises that operates off the town dock, said that the two loading spaces close to the ramp "have been crucial to my business" and also used by others who are transients.

"I hope we can maintain that kind of access as we go forward," said Williamson.

He also said that raising the boardwalk will "absolutely" require new ramps, as the current ones are already too dangerous when they are slippery and wet and it's low tide. He asked why the piling work was not included in the original application for the grant, as they have been talking about replacing them for many years, and that he is opposed to the railing plan.

"Personally, I am very much opposed to any kind of railing around the harbor," said Williamson. "People are down there and they want to be part of the harbor. Even a wire fence would be a great detraction from the beauty of the harbor. Personally, I don't know one person who is in favor of it, even though we have been told some are in favor and some are not."

Dominic Gioia, who recently purchased the Lively Lady and was approved later in the meeting for a license transfer to operate the tourist vessel in Camden Harbor this summer, asked if a public hose for water access could be made available to clean off boats at the hoist.

Stephen Gold, another member of the Harbor Committee, said he is concerned about the area around the hoist, including the proposed railings, which look to drive pedestrians into the parking lot to connect one piece of the boardwalk to another.

Gold also said the 40-foot hoist area, about four parking spaces, is "way too big." And since the lobstermen are not going to park there, the town will still have to reserve spaces for them.

"We are losing too many parking spaces," said Gold. "It the intent is to dig out this whole area and reinforce it, also shrinking it would save a lot of money. The crane itself does not require a huge apron, so I think we are wasting a lot of space there."

John Scholz, a member of the Planning Board, said, "It's always best to take borings for anything like this up front."

Given that the design has thus far been done conservatively, the town might end up spending more money than needed or spend more money than anticipated.

"I have done plenty of projects where the client asked me not to spend money on borings, and it's come back to bite the project. I recommend to Pat [Finnigan]that you get it done. Better off time-wise and cost-wise," said Scholz.

Bannon said he agreed with Scholz, adding that any time one can go into a project with that information, it's better than making assumptions.

"We do have some estimates already on some geotechnical work that could be done. We have a pretty major change in the scope of the project, and we have been trying to pull the design together quickly. Geotechnical would be an important piece of that," said Bannon.

Select Board chairman Martin Cates asked what the lead time of getting borings done would be, how that would impact the schedule and the cost.

Kern said the schedule part was not known, but shouldn't impact the project very much. She estimated that a test boring is about $1,000.

French asked Finnigan if she thought the SHIP Grant funds with the town match would pay for the 40-feet of phase one work, and Finnigan said, "Yes."

Select Board member Leonard Lookner then made the following motion: "To authorize the project to be phased, based on available funding to include boring, installation of a hoist, water service, electrical service and fender pile replacement."

The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.

Related link:

• To view engineering and design plans discussed at the Feb. 17 meeting, see the Feb. 17 Select Board Packet

Related stories:

• Penobscot Bay towns score grants — some big — to keep waterfronts, harbors working (Jan. 30, 2014)

• Camden Harbor fishermen’s hoist must be installed before fast approaching deadline (Aug. 12, 2014)

Reach Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com