BAY MINETTE – Work should start this summer to build a large boat launch on the Intracoastal waterway following action by the Baldwin County Commission on Tuesday.
The commission voted to approve a bid of $9.39 million for the project. McElhenney Construction of Theodore was the lower of two bidders on the project.
The facility will include six boat ramps as well as a covered breezeway and decking. The county bought a 45-acre site on the Intracoastal Waterway in Orange Beach where the facility will be constructed. The site is at the south end of the Baldwin Beach Express.
Commissioner Charles “Skip” Gruber, whose district includes the site, said the county has been working on the project for several years.
“This is something that we’ve needed for a long, long time,” he said.
Gruber said initial estimates put the cost at about $5 million, but recent increases in the price of building materials drove up the final total.
“The price of everything has gone up so much lately,” Gruber said. “It’s almost double the original engineering estimate.”
The cost of the project will be paid through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act. The GOMESA program provides revenue from offshore oil and gas leases for states in the northern Gulf that allow drilling off their shores.
Baldwin County will receive $10.7 million in county and state GOMESA funds that will be used for the project, according to county reports. The additional $1.3 million will be used for projects associated with the launch site.
Joey Nunnally, county engineer, said work should begin by July and be complete in eight to 10 months.
“It’s going to be like a little bit of a phase project,” Nunnally said. “We didn’t have enough money to do the walking trail and the fishing pier, but other than that, everything’s going to be done.”
The fishing pier and walking trail were listed as optional additions in the bid. The bid for the pier was $597,241. The trail bid was $209,628.
Nunnally said the project will be a major asset for boaters on the Alabama coast.
“There’s nothing like this on the Gulf Coast,” Nunnally said. “I’m excited about it.”
