Dredging of the channel to the South Benson Marina will begin the first or second week of March. There Town of Fairfield has hired Julian Construction as their contractor. The project will finish by the end of March. Most of the dredging will be conducted from the Fairfield side, but there will be a machine on the the Bridgeport side. It will not be located near the plantings. The Town of Fairfield has obtained approvals from the State of Connecticut’s DEEP and is coordinating with the City of Bridgeport even though the equipment will be on Fairfield land. Fairfield owns part of the barrier spit (see earlier post on the municipal boundaries). No damage to the barrier spit is expected to occur due to the dredging or equipment. We will check the barrier spit before and after the dredging to verify.
3/21/13 Update
Heavy machinery was observed by one of our Board members going over the area where the plantings are located. We notified the Town of Fairfield and the DEEP. We have asked the DEEP to require Bridgeport to put the fence back up to protect the plantings. We’ve made numerous requests over the past year for the fence directly with the City, but without success.