DEC: Construction on boat launch ramps at Old Barge site to begin in 2018
Construction on a waterway access site to the Peconic Bay on Old Main Road in Southold is anticipated to begin by late summer 2018, according to a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation spokesperson.
The DEC announced its purchase of the 3.2-acre property, the former location of The Old Barge restaurant, from the Reiter family in 2013 and since then has completed a design for a place for public fishing and recreational boating access to the bay.
The Old Barge closed in late 2009 after 61 years. The purchase of the property, which at the time had a fair market value of $2 million, was funded by a Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a donation Reiter family.
DEC representatives shared its plans for what will be known as the Hashamomuck Marine Waterway Access Site with the Southold Town Planning Board in 2016, although it is not subject to that board’s review. In addition to boat launch ramps, the proposed design calls for a marine pump-out station and floating observation pier.
The project is currently in the permitting phase, according to DEC public information officer Benning DeLaMater.
