In the realm of bureaucratic hang-ups, the Port of Coupeville’s moorage expansion project rates a royal pain-in-the-neck, with each forward step hitting one more hitch in the permitting process.

Even so, any hint of progress is a welcome event, and the port commission recently received notice that they may begin construction on the Coupeville Wharf sometime after July 19, though an exact date has yet to be set, Port of Coupeville consultant John Coyne said Thursday.

“We have received from the Corps of Engineers permits for everything we requested originally,” Coyne said. However, he added, the permits don’t cover all aspects of the project as originally conceived. The commissioners withdrew their plans for a marine pump-out facility and moorage buoys, and it’s uncertain whether pursuing these plans will further hold up the project.

The Moorage Expansion Project, which has been in the works since August 1998, will add about 100 feet to existing moorage at the Coupeville Wharf, including two 10-by-24 foot floats anchored to three new pilings on the east side and an 8-by-50 foot dock secured to existing pilings on the wharf’s west side. Also, the project would install new electrical hook-ups, lights and an additional fire main.

As originally conceived, the entire expansion project had an estimated price tag of about $60,000, though this figure also took into account the cost of additional buoys and the septic pump-out station.

For the last four years, the project has been stalled in the permitting process, with various applications to the state Dept. of Fish and Wildlife held up over concerns about the impact wharf construction could have on local salmon habitat. Now that the commissioners finally have received an Hydrolic Project Approval (HPA) from F&W, it would seem they are much closer to getting the green light.

The hydrolic approval did not include the port’s buoy design, a fact that seems to baffle Coyne. He said questions have been raised by F&W over the specifics of the design, even though it follows the buoy design guidelines that have been accepted for the state parks. “Why is that bad?” he asked.

The port commission currently is exploring with F&W officials the feasibility of restoring the buoy portion of the project, though nothing has been done formally. Coyne indicated that there’s hope for reinstating the plan as originally submitted.

“I believe that Fish and Wildlife will accept the buoy design that was submitted,” he said, “but I just don’t know on that. If we wanted to abandon the buoys, we have everything we need to proceed. But we would like to install the buoys,” he added.

Coyne said permitting of the buoys design likely would require some biological surveys of the areas where they would be installed.

As for the installation of a marine pump-out system, which would hook up to the town’s septic system, Coyne said “that’s not something that we’re avidly pursuing right now.”

The HPA permit opens a window on construction through February 14 of next year, a time frame that Coyne said should pose no problem for the port. He added, though, that it remains to be seen when the port can actually begin construction after the official approval date of July 19. There is the question of timing on when to bring in a piledriver to place the additional pilings needed for expansion.

“It’s expensive,” Coyne said of contracting the use of a piledriver. “We would like to have the same rig place the anchors for the moorage buoys, provided we have that approval.”

He said the port has also been discussing with Coupeville town planner Larry Cort the possibility of coordinating construction projects, seeing as the town needs to have piles driven in order to secure floats at Captain Coupe’s Park near the sewage plant.

“If there were some aspect of that that required approval,” he said, “that’s another consideration.”