LETTER: Changes could make harbor safer and allow cruise ships

To Ozaukee Press:

The Ozaukee Press editorial, “This Port should not be closed to ships,” seems to be based upon a critical misunderstanding of what is being proposed in the City of Port Washington’s downtown and lakefront plan.

Nowhere in the downtown plan is there any suggestion of losing our deep-water

port. Port Washington has long been known as having a fair-weather harbor. The downtown plan addresses that by tightening up the harbor entrance to better protect the outer harbor and the west slip.

That would not result in the elimination of our deep-water port. On the contrary,

if properly executed, this plan will accentuate our deep-water port, and allow cruise ships, such as the Viking Octantis to visit Port Washington.

Last summer, a set of barges and a tugboat broke free from Coal Dock Park in

rough seas and damaged both the vessels and the dock wall and concrete walkway. Any cruise ship would be unable to dock, load or unload passengers in similar conditions.

The improved entrance could be designed to accommodate a vessel of at least 740 feet long. Such an improvement could both better protect the harbor and allow for a marina expansion.

There is also a matter of harbor depths. The outer harbor is listed as having been dredged to a depth of 13.5 feet, according to federal nautical charts, with the depths along the coal dock ranging from 15 to 18 feet. The Viking Octantis draws 19.8 feet and could not dock in Port Washington even if it wanted to. As it is, coal boats couldn’t enter our harbor fully loaded.

Do we want to be able to accommodate cruise ships such as the Viking Octantis? If so, we will need to make major improvements to our harbor to both be able to protect such a ship when docked, and to allow them a place to be able to dock. The downtown plan does not preclude any of this, but offers a starting point from which to consider making this possible.

The plan proposes moving the launch ramps to Coal Dock Park as a way of mitigating trailer parking issues at the current launch ramps. Outside of the four-month boating season, the marina parking lot is underutilized, and the plan explores alternative uses for this lot, including tenant parking, green space and seasonal shops.

Moving the trailer parking might be able to resolve some of these issues, while also providing parking for a community center on Coal Dock Park (long part of the park plan) when the lot is not in use for boating. The launch ramps and parking would be contained within the west side of the park where parking currently resides and the underutilized center island surrounded by the existing parking.

The plan contains ideas that are not detailed beyond a concept. The bridge across the harbor is not in any way financially viable without either a major donation (upwards of $5 million) or a referendum to raise taxes.

The downtown plan is merely a guiding document to help define a set of goals.

Everything is a tradeoff, and no one will be happy with everything that we do. Something or someone will always feel slighted, but we are tasked with trying to make the best decisions that we can for the long-term viability of Port Washington. Public input is very important in this process, but some things are not viable, or are more complicated than people are usually aware of. As we move forward, whether you are happy with things or not, please communicate your thoughts with city officials and challenge us to be able to justify why we do things, whether we agree or not.

Michael Gasper

Ward 3 alderman

Port Washington

Editor’s note: The 13.5-foot depth listed on the NOAA chart is misleading. Most of the outer harbor is much deeper. Soundings taken June 23, 2023 found that water over the approach to coal dock is 25 to 21 feet deep. Water depths along the coal dock are 20.5 feet at the outside end of the dock and 16.5 feet at the western end. Depth along the eastern half of the dock, where deep draft vessels would likely moor, ranges from 20.5 to 19 feet.