19961054 Ver 2_Public Comments_20110531 (2)

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Mr. Dave Timpy
Wilmington District
Corps of Engineers
69 Darlington Avenue
Wilmington, NC 28402
Re: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Public Notice Issue Date May 10, 2011: Comment Deadline June 8,
2011 Corps Action I.D. SAW-2009-01242 Bennett Brothers Yachts, Inc request for Maintenance
Dredging of Marina
Dear Mr. Timpy,
I am in support of Bennett Brothers Yachts request for maintenance dredging as proposed in their Form
4345 Individual Permit and joint application for NC DWQ 401 Water Quality Certification. Please forward
these comments on to Ms. Karoly at the Division of Water Quality.
I am the controller at Bennett Brothers Yachts, Inc and Treasurer of the Cape Fear Marina Association. As
such I am very interested in this project.
Marinas give the boating public safe access to the water, with many opportunities for sailing, boating,
fishing and other water sports, and provides jobs for boatyard and other marine service workers.
As I understand it, the requested dredging is entirely within the footprint of the existing marina, and no new
slips are proposed. The dredging is to restore portions of the marina to pre-construction depths. Pictures
show some of the main docks aground at low tide, which can eventually cause a safety hazard. Safety is
important to me as a boater. Apparently the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission has agreed and
has issued Bennett Brothers a permit by Variance to allow this dredging.
Bennett Brothers has offered mitigation, minimization and restoration with their permit application. This
seems to be a reasonable offer to any perceived or unintended impacts of the maintenance dredging.
Docks sitting on the bottom twice a day should not be considered as environmentally better than free
floating docks. This 1.85 acre dredge project of less than 4000 cubic yards, not impacting wetlands, in a
river that has a federally maintained (by taxpayer money) shipping channel, at a site dating back to the
1850's as a commercial wharf, should be approved without delay.
Best regards,
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Mila Hill
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