Residents, Beach debate use of boat ramp site in dredge project

VIRGINIA BEACH

They agree that the western branch of the Lynnhaven River needs to be dredged. But nobody who lives near the river can agree on where the project should be based.

More than 200 people attended a meeting Wednesday night to debate, and occasionally scream, about the city's proposal to use the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp site as a dredge transfer station.

Virginia Beach officials tried to reassure residents that the boat ramp was the least problematic place to put the station, where crews would unload silt and sand from barges onto trucks.

The boat ramp is off heavily used Shore Drive and the addition of 45 to 50 trucks would not represent a major impact, officials said.

But opponents said that bringing dump trucks to the ramp parking lot would pose traffic and safety problems to ramp visitors and those who are trying to launch their boats.

"The dredging needs to be done, the spoils site needs to be somewhere," said Joe Ferrara, a boater. "I just don't think it needs to be at the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp."

Ferrara said he also worried about the boaters, some of them inexperienced, who will have to maneuver around these barges in the river.

Other speakers raised fears about a barge getting loose and hitting the Lesner Bridge.

Some opponents said the city should take a closer look at some of the alternative transfer station options, including the back of Princess Anne High School and Saw Pen Point Park.

City officials dismissed the Princess Anne site after finding no way to avoid the high school's activities and student traffic, said Phill Roehrs, the city's coastal engineer.

The Saw Pen Point site has wetlands that would be affected and is also nearly a mile from a major road, Roehrs said.

The Saw Pen Point option has received increased attention in recent weeks after some residents questioned whether Councilman Louis Jones influenced the staff's decision to dismiss that site.

Jones lives near the Saw Pen Point location. The boat ramp is also in his district.

Jones has denied pulling strings for personal reasons. He said he opposed Saw Pen Point for environmental and safety concerns.

Chuck Plimpton, president of the Witchduck Civic League, said that when residents around Saw Pen Point found out that the city was looking to put a transfer station at the park, he called Jones.

"He was responding to the issues raised by the Witchduck Civic League," Plimpton said.

City officials are trying to find other potential sites. They are studying one close to Thalia Elementary School, said Dave Hansen, the city's finance and technology chief.

But even that site has environmental and safety concerns, Hansen said. "Your voice is being heard," he told the crowd.

The Virginia Beach City Council will have the final decision on where the transfer station is located, Hansen said.

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com