Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District awards bids for Tappan, Seneca

BY JD LONG (jim@harrisonnewsherald.com)

NEW PHILADELPHIA—Tappan Marina continues to be a popular subject with its newly completed marina-restaurant and some of its other upcoming projects. Last Friday, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District’s board approved the bid and the awarding of projects for the Tappan Marina parking lot, dock access, and shoreline erosion countermeasures. They also approved proposals for similar shoreline stabilization and other site improvement projects at the Seneca Marina.

Chief of Engineering Boris Slogar said the Tappan Marina projects include “a lot of moving parts” with 30% involving pavement at a $282,000 price tag and another $208,000 for the shoreline stabilization work, 22% of the total project. Slogar said the majority of that sum will come from the maintenance assessment fund for “shoreline improvement.”

Electrical and lighting contributed to another $166,000, or 20% of the project’s total cost. And the total cost bumps up to $940,000 when factoring in the drainage and earthwork, which Slogar said was approximately $120,000 higher than they originally anticipated.

Some portions of the Tappan Marina lot were left with gravel, but the Conservancy District decided to pave it all, adding to the total.

“There’s an additional dock above that’s coming in that’s going to bring in 32 more slips, so that’s 32 more vehicles that we need to park somewhere,” Slogar explained. When asked about the original contract, Slogar used the estimate from four to five years ago: around $1.7 million. But they now have managed to do it for less than $1 million.

“We did cut the cost substantially, and I think, you know, this I’m excited about just to bring it on home and close the chapter,” Slogar told the board.

Additionally, board member James Gresh touched on the Tappan Volunteer Fire Department space. The District is attempting to acquire that space to accommodate foot traffic crossing U.S. 250. And Chief of Recreation Ryan McCleaster mentioned that a staging area would be needed for boats using the marina. He said there was a waitlist for the marina, and the additional 32 spots would be helpful. “I think we’re really going to monopolize as much land up there as we can,” McCleaster said of the additional parking spaces. Slogar also received approval for bids on project awards for Seneca Marina’s shoreline stabilization and site improvements. The site improvement project had already been approved by the board back in January of this year and hoped to get site access “moving before shoreline.” But due to scheduling, they decided to combine the projects — with an estimate for just over $1 million.