FENWICK ISLAND, Del. - The town of Fenwick Island is hoping to get a long awaited dredging project started sometime next year.
At a Dredging Committee meeting, the committee announced all 3 permits required by DNREC and the Army Corps of Engineers have been submitted, they are just waiting for approval.
Dredging Committee Chairman, Bill Rymer said the committee is also awaiting sediment testing results to make sure the sand they will dredge will be conducive for building. Rymer also spoke on the timeline of this project.
"Unfortunately, the approval process usually takes a lot of time, that could be four to six months before it's completed," Rymer said.
The plan for the Little Assawoman Bay is to clear out two canals that are channels to the bay and make them easier to navigate for boaters.
The Committee hopes to start the project by late December or early January and be done by April 2024. That timeline would also be the best option to protect of the marine life in the bay.
Some locals like Yvonne Lehm said this project is beneficial for locals who use the bay frequently.
"This makes it easier as for us to get around," Lehm said. "Put our crab traps out, go fishing, just go boating, not about worrying about how to get across the bay."
Another local Kurt Zanelotti said this project is long overdue especially for people who aren't familiar with the canal.
"If you go out of the canals, there are sandbars everywhere and you have to pretty much know where you're going unless it's marked and a lot of the channels in close to the canals aren't marked," Zanelotti said. "So it can be a dangerous situation."
The Dredging Committee in Fenwick Island will likely meet again in the next 6 to 8 weeks, once they get the results back from the sediment samples of the bay.