Ashwaubenon board authorizes bids for marina pier repairs

By Kevin Boneske

Staff Writer

ASHWAUBENON – To repair pier damage caused by high water at the Ashwaubenon marina, the village board agreed Tuesday, Aug. 25, to have AECOM put together a bid package to remove and replace the concrete end sections of the north and south breakwaters.

Parks, Recreation and Forestry Director Rex Mehlberg said Ashwaubenon is no different than many shorelines on the Fox River, Bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan where high water created erosion issues.

“We have a very beautiful marina area down off of Broadway,” he said. “We have two piers, a north pier and a south pier, that are under somewhat duress at the very ends. They’re L-shaped piers with a bulb on the very end of them.”

Because of the high water, Mehlberg said water has been washing out the subsoil material underneath the concrete.

He said the bulb on the end of the south pier has cracked and started to dip into the water, while the bulb on the north end shows signs of cracking with the substructure material washing out underneath the concrete pier.

In addition, Mehlberg said several light posts on the south side of the marina along the walkway, adjacent to Manseau Flats, are starting to lean because of the high water and will need to be straightened with new footings.

He said the village was informed by its insurance carrier, Municipal Property Insurance Company, the erosion would not be covered.

Mehlberg said AECOM (formally STS Consultants), which originally worked on the marina project, put together a cost estimate report for the village with three options for repairing the piers.

He said the park board recommended the option to reconstruct the bulb areas on each pier.

Mehlberg said AECOM estimated the cost for replacing the end sections with new concrete at $22,800 per pier, the most expensive of the three options.

“That work would probably be done in 2021,” he said. “It would be the most cost-effective to do so. Just because the contractors are so busy right now, we’d be cost-prohibitive to try to have anything done yet (this year) with the workload people have going on.”

Mehlberg said AECOM would also receive a percentage fee contract administration and work with the village on putting together the bid package.

“What AECOM would do, they would put together the bid packet, we’d put it out for bid, have the bid opening, and then we’d come back with a summary of those bid costs to village board for any further action and approval or denial,” he said.

Finance Director Greg Wenholz said funding for the pier repairs could come out of Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) District No. 3.

“This would be covered under TIF without having to adjust the project plan,” he said. “It would fall under riverfront. It is a maintenance issue… TIF 3 would be able to support those expenditures.”