Saint Paul's harbor needs $90 million in work, and the city wants input

Saint Paul residents get two chances in early October to shape what happens to the island's harbor, where a 2021 study identified more than $90 million in needed work.

The city has scheduled open houses at the Rec Hall on Friday, Oct. 2 and Saturday, Oct. 3, both from 4 to 7 pm. The first gathers input on needs and priorities. The second puts draft conceptual plans in front of the public for comment. What comes out of them feeds the design and permitting work to follow, on a project the city is developing with PND Engineers.

The problems are well documented. That 2021 feasibility study found an adverse wave climate in the entrance channel and harbor, a breakwater that routinely overtops, damage to moored vessels and moorage space inadequate for the fleet. Its list of fixes included expanding the breakwater, revising the entrance channel, renovating docks, adding shore power and replacing the harbormaster office.

Saint Paul owns and maintains the harbor and is the sole applicant and local sponsor for federally funded work there. It does this without a dedicated harbormaster — city staff rotate through the role and answer incoming vessels on VHF Channel 16.