Bay Harbor Improvement Association

Two plantings of native smooth cord grass and mangrove were held February 26 and March 8th. Birds are nesting so please stay off the island. Final reports for the Na-tional Fish & Wildlife Foundation and National Association of Counties were submitted. When accepted, we will receive our reimbursements. These funds will cover remaining invoices. A summary of accounting will be prepared for the Board of Directors to re-view and for posting on our website.

Donation Recognition Follow-up

Those giving $100 will be recognized with a signature tile placed at the Bay Harbor Ma-rina. Those giving $1,000 or more will be recognized with a signature tile and receive a framed print of the artwork appearing in our brochure by Artist Caroline Graham. Those giving $5,000 or more will receive all three prints. Contact Jill Seay (281-487-6192) to pick up your prints. Still, we would greatly appreciate your making an additional donation the same time. This has been a big project over several years. We appreciate your donations and thank you for your support.

Betsy Redfield, Project Coordinator

January 2011

A meeting was held with Gahagan & Bryant Associates on April 29, 2010 to open bids for construction of the habitat project. The Notice of Award/Contract was signed June 16, 2010 with JND Thomas Co. and a pre-construction meeting was held at the offices of GBA on August 3, 2010.

Weekly construction summary reports were provided by GBA summarized below:

Sept 12-18: Mobilization to the site began on August 22, 2010 and notice to proceed was given on September 7. Silt fencing was in-stalled; footprint stakes

were installed; geo-tubes were being filled.

Sept 19-25: Filling of geo-tubes continued

Sept 26-Oct 2: Channel marker pilings installed; continue filling geo-tubes

Oct 3-9: Dredge work continued with discharge to island pad

Oct 10-16: Dredge work continued discharge to island and geo-tubes

Oct 17-23: Installation and filling of geo-tubes near completion

Oct 25-31: Discharge continued on the pad

Nov 1-7: Channel depth being worked.

Nov 8-14: Discharge continues to pad

Nov 15-21: Not working due to bad weather

Nov 28-Dec 4: Discharge restarted and continued to pad

Dec 5 – Dec 11: Island restoration is to grade. Areas continue to be filled

Dec 19 – Dec 25: Deficiencies addressed Dec 12-18 work will be done

For construction information the project was declared complete as of December 21, 2010.

An inspection committee from Galveston Bay Foundation toured the site on Tuesday, January 11 and gave reports of some repairs and completion work to be done. This is being addressed with the engineers and contractor. GBA will make sure all work is completed before releas-ing the contractor.

Galveston Bay Foundation and US Fish & Wildlife Services will make arrangements to plant native vegetation on the island which will include many residents and neighboring volunteers and the Boy Scouts of America. Sample vegetation has been planted for testing. At the time of the planting Bay Harbor will hold a fund raiser to prepare for monitoring and continued expenses.

Betsy Redfield, Project Coordinator

Donations:

Resident's donations for future maintenance are currently being solicited.

Contact:

Betsy Redfield, Chairman

Bay Harbor Habitat Restoration Project

(713) 961-1641 e-mail: eredfield1@peoplepc.com

Technical Details of the Dredging and Island Restoration

Index map showing location of project

Detail map showing breakwaters

Geotube and channel cross-section diagrams

Gabion detail example

Completed and Restored Island May 2011

December 2010 – Dredging Underway

February 2011 – A little help from our Friends in planting cord grass.

February 2011 – Cord Grass planted and starting to build shore bird habitat

February 2011 – Thank you to Galveston Bay Foundation and Bay Harbor resident volunteers!!

Habitat Restoration Project Background

The Bay Harbor Habitat Restoration Project began in 2005 as a typical maintenance dredging to improve boat access to the bay from the Bay Harbor residential subdivision. In looking for an appropriate dredge material disposal site, local residents examined the feasibility of upland disposal. However, locating an appropriate upland site would require a substantial expenditure of funds and would not provide any future public benefit beyond the immediate need to provide continued boat access. The President of the Bay Harbor Improvement Association and Board of Directors contacted other communities and reached a local fishery biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Services. Debbie DeVore, from this agency, made a presentation to the residents at the annual meeting in 2005. The idea and plan was developed to beneficially utilize the sandy maintenance dredge material as a resource, consistent with the Texas Coastal Zone Management Plan to restore vital bayside marsh and bird nesting habitat areas. The most likely deposit area was to restore the eroding island near the Bay Harbor Marina to a bird, fish, and wildlife habitat. By shoring up and enlarging the remainder of the island, it would reduce further erosion and provide a beneficial use of the dredge materials.

Next came the need for funding such an elaborate undertaking. The President of Coastal Beach & Bay Foundation (CBBF) offered our community support in applying for funding from various county, state and federal agencies. Through CBBF (a 501 c-3 organization) donations, possibly tax deductible, could be made in the name of Bay Harbor Habitat Restoration (BHHR) and set aside for matching funds.

In August 2006 Bay Harbor submitted an application to the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) requesting $100,000 (matching grant) to cover permitting and construction of the access channel and disposition of the beneficial material.

Bay Harbor made a presentation before the US CORPS OF ENGINEERS at a Joint Evaluation Meeting on April 18, 2006, outlining the project.

Since our submittal of an application to the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) in August 2006, Bay Harbor has made considerable progress in their project to maintenance dredge the boat access channel and make beneficial use of the material to restore an eroding island into a bird and wildlife habitat and fishery marsh.

Bay Harbor is coordinating our project’s work and time schedule where appropriate with Terramar in their project to minimize costs and maximize the beneficial use of the dredged materials for reestablishing marsh mounds and terraces resulting in overall habitat improvement. Bay Harbor and Terramar filed a joint application to the US Fish & Wildlife and Coastal Beach & Bay Foundation in May and were each awarded $25,000 in August 2007.

The engineering firm of Gahagan & Bryant were contracted by Bay Harbor in June 2007 to do the Restoration Project. Hydrographic survey, LSLS, geotechnical analysis and preliminary design and plan have been completed. Bay Harbor has had several meetings with agencies (USFW, NOAA, TP&W, GLO), organizations (Coastal Beach & Bay Foundation, Galveston Bay Foundation), and the engineer to collectively develop the project design and plan. The final design and plan will be competed and selected mid-February and submitted for permitting early March. It is estimated that permitting could take 8 to 12 months. This would place construction to begin late 2008/early 2009.

An application to the Coastal Erosion Planning and Response Act (CEPRA) cycle 5 was submitted in June 2007 and on November 2, 2007 Bay Harbor received notification that their Habitat Restoration Project had been selected to receive $100,000 matching funds.

The project design will restore the eroded island to a total area of approximately 2 acres, including a 4-foot elevated area for bird nesting and expanded marsh area for fishery habitat. An estimate of 10,500 cubic yards of material will be retrieved for placement and fill on the island.

To stabilize the placed material, structural options for breakwater sections include the use of geotextile tubes, gabion rock baskets, and reef balls. The engineer’s plans now forecast the total project to be between $370,000 to $400,000.

November 2008

Although Ike took a toll on all of us at Bay Harbor, the Habitat Restoration Project is still going ahead. We contacted the Agencies we are working with and let them know that the project is proceeding. Many of the habitat areas were severely damaged or totally lost during Ike, so our little island habitat project will have an even greater affect on the wildlife and fishery. A new Project Progress Board has been installed at the Bay Harbor Marina to keep you posted.

We still need your financial support (click here for smilebox message). Please give whatever you can. Also if you are able to volunteer your time, please keep track of what you have done by downloading the Volunteer Form (click here to download), and then send the filled in form to Betsy Redfield.

Engineering:

Rob Kite, Project Engineer with GBA, sent us an updated Post-Storm Survey Proposal. They will conduct bathymetric survey of main channel; identify the boundaries of the offshore island; perform a topographic survey of the main part of the island; and develop plan and cross section views of the proposed dredge and placement areas as changed due to the storm. Any modifications needed will be coordinated with the USACE

Bay Harbor Bird Island

and Natural Resource Agencies.

Funding as of August 2009 (click below):

Consolidated Funding Report

Grants and Matching Sources

List of Applications Submitted

For further information and explanation of these funding, expense reports please contact Betsy Redfield.

Pending Applications as of November 2008:

An application was submitted October 1st to Fish America Foundation for $25,000. Our application with National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (Shell Marine Habitat) for $50,000 is still pending. An e-mail was sent following Ike informing the foundation that our project was still on-going and that we definitely need the funding as restoration was even more beneficial. The application to the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) is still pending and funding will likely be pushed forward perhaps 2010.*GLO: We are preparing the latest numbers in our account with Coastal Beach & Bay and the Bay Harbor Habitat Project to submit to Dennis Rocha of the GLO. After his review we will know if we are ready to sign the Project Co-operation Agreement for the $100,000 matching funds. This is still a Big Project and will have a bigger impact on the environment as the need for habitat nesting is even greater after Ike. Members of the Board have been out the channel and believe that there is very little Ike debris. The storm approaching from the North blew all the junk away from our channel. If this is so, it will be good news after the survey because the contractor will not have to clear away debris before pumping.

Betsy Redfield, Project Chairman

February 2010

We have signed the contract with Gahagan & Bryant for the remaining Tasks to complete our Island Restoration Project including the channel dredging. GBA will begin Post Storm Survey work, weather permitting, and follow up on the Easement Permit with the General Land Office. They will then prepare the Final Design & Plans for construction bids.

Unfortunately we were not granted the Gulf of Mexico grant of $25,000. However, unsolicited, we were given a non-matching grant from the Coastal Beach & Bay Foundation of $10,000. We continue to provide up-dated information to the Texas GLO (CEPRA $225,000 pending application) where our Project is on the Alternate Project List.

We have been in contact again with the Galveston Bay Foundation and believe we will be able to renew our application and possibly receive significant funding. This is all “in the works”. Also, we are continuing to communicate with Scott Williams of the US Fish and Wildlife Service who is searching for funds for our Project.

A recent contact with Kris Benson of NOAA gave us some encouragement as he offered to research other funding sources for our Project including our pending South East Aquatic Partnership application.

This means that we continue to need private funds to reach our total project goal. We hope you received our thank you picture/note and will donate again to our community Project. We really need your donations NOW to avoid losing our present grants and all the progress we have made. We want to get this Project done and are still trying to target June 2010.

We have contacted the Coastal Counties Restoration Initiative and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and they have agreed that if Gahagan & Bryant sends our Final Design and Plans out for bids in March they will consider our Project funded and these two grants will not expire. This is critical and we must have sufficient funds and pledges to do this.

Please remember that our Project includes the dredging of the boat channel and in order to get this done we were able to apply for and received matching grants by restoring the eroding island with the dredged materials. We have to match these grants. Please donate by contacting Betsy Redfield (713) 961-1641 e-mail: eredfield1@peoplepc.com