Port forges ahead with plan to save bluff park

The Port Washington Common Council will be asked next month to endorse a plan to stabilize 600 feet of the city’s north beach at a cost estimated to be between $3.9 million and $6.5 million.

The Board of Public Works on Tuesday unanimously made the recommendation and also recommended that the city hire Miller Engineers and Scientists of Sheboygan to do final engineering work on the plan for $97,000.

The board also accepted a grant from the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program that will cover 40% of the cost of the engineering work to a maximum $40,000.

Miller Engineers and Scientists presented two proposals to the board Tuesday, including one that would have stabilized 1,200 feet of the bluff at an estimated cost of $7.1 million to $10.4 million.

Company president and principle engineer Roger Miller recommended the smaller project.

“I wouldn’t consider anything more than option B,” he told the board. “We don’t gain that much more protection.”

City Engineer Roger Strohm questioned if the city could adequately monitor the stability of the northern portion of the bluff then, noting people will continue to walk along the beach in that area.

But Miller noted that portion of the bluff is relatively stable while the southern portion is much more prone to slumping.

“There’s much more usable beach than just what this project involves,” he said, adding that the city can add sand to the beach to help protect the toe of the bluff from erosion in that area.

Miller project manager Emily Blum told the board that it could hold off making a decision on which option it preferred for a month or two, noting that the city isn’t likely to begin the work until it receives grant money to cover a significant portion of the cost.

“There’s not a big rush on any portion of the design,” she said. 

Ald. John Sigwart questioned how much it would cost to bring contractors back in five years if the city decided to stabilize the rest of the bluff.

The cost would be significant, Miller acknowledged, but he said it’s unlikely the additional work would be needed anytime soon.

“I think there are decades of reserve time there,” he said.

Bluff erosion and slumping have been a point of discussion in the city for decades, but the high price tag associated with stabilization projects — and the idea of cutting into the bluff — have kept officials from moving forward with plans.

But as high lake levels over the past several years have caused significant slides and prompted the city to close north beach for a year, officials have taken another look at the concept.

Blum told the board the erosion is largely due to two factors, severe erosion at the base of the bluff and a seam of sand and saturated silt that runs along much of the bluff.

To combat this, she said, it is recommended that three subsurface drain lines be installed along the bluff to draw water out of the sand seam, the hillside be cut back to a more stable point and a revetment be constructed along the toe of the bluff to keep wave action from eroding the bottom of the hillside.

The revetment would be at least partially buried, making it less obtrusive to people using the beach.

A beach nourishment program, where sand is added to the beach, is also recommended to improve the quality of the beach and increase its width, she said.

Most of the slumping occurs on the southern two-thirds of the north bluff, Blum said, adding this is not a new phenomenon.

“If the work isn’t done ... we can expect continued erosion,” Blum said.

Noting that a path would be created from Upper Lake Park to the beach, Ald. Mike Gasper, a member of the board, questioned if it would be worth it to create a more gentle slope that would eliminate the need for handrails on the path from Upper Lake Park to the stabilized beach.

Not only would that be more costly, it would cause issues in matching the grade, Blum said.

  Miller also noted that the path should not be considered for handicapped accessibility.

“Handicapped access should be from the parking lot at the wastewater treatment plant,” he said.

Noting that the erosion has moved the top of the bluff close to portions of the road through Upper Lake Park, Miller’s report recommended that the city move the roadway before the rest of the project begins and install the drainage system as soon as possible.

Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said that cost would be relatively modest, likely less than $1 million, and that concept will be discussed as the design work is completed.

Vanden Noven said the design work will be done over the next year, and the city will begin looking for grant funds to help pay for the project cost.

Because of the uncertainty of grant funding, the city has not set a schedule for the project.