WOODBRIDGE — Prince William County leaders may be ready to part with nearly $1 million to dredge Neabsco Creek.
The U.S. Coast Guard ordered the leisure waterway in Woodbridge closed earlier this month when it found the waters were too shallow for boats to safely enter and exit the creek’s channel.
County officials are now prepared to use $750,000 from a contingency fund to pay for dredging of the creek’s channel to remove silt built up over several years. The cost figure is based on an estimate from a consultant hired to review the situation on the creek.
Terry Hill, the owner of Hampton’s Landing Marina where the Neabsco meets the Potomac River, blames the silt has tricked downstream from developments in and around the Potomac Mills mall area.
Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank Principi said the county should contribute to the cost of the dredging he waterway, but it should also pressure the federal government to kick in funds, too.
Prince William County Board of Supervisors Corey Stewart issued a warning about waiting for the feds to fix the problem.
“He who waits for the Federal Government will be waiting for a long time. It’s not going to happen,” said Stewart.
Stakeholders, to include locally elected officials like Principi, the U.S. Coast Guard, and property owners like Hill are set to meet Thursday at the Ferlazzo Building in Woodbridge for an update on the situation. Hill says he’s dredged his marina five times since 1998 and removed about 30,000 cubic yards of silt.
Right now, county taxpayers could pick up the tab for the dredging the channel. But it will need routine dredging over the coming years to make it viable and to keep open the waterway.
To pay for it, Hill say’s he’ll work with state legislators to enact new taxes on the sale of pleasure boats, and boat fuel sales to create a waterway management fund to pay for dredging issues as well as other waterway maintenance issues.
“To my knowledge, this is something that Maryland has that Virginia does not,” said Hill.
While the waterway is used only by pleasure boaters, Hill says it’s important to keep it open because of the tax revenue generated by those who own boats, as well as those who use Hill’s marina to access the creek and the Potomac River through boat rentals. This is also the home marina for the OWL Volunteer Fire Department rescue boat, moored there free of charge, used to rescue stranded boaters on the river.
If supervisors approve the funds for dredging, then the stakeholders must decide who, or which agency will do the work. Hill says he’s willing to do it, but he wants government leaders to oversee the project.
