Dredging to occur in Sandusky's harbor

SANDUSKY — Dredging in Sandusky to keep the harbor safe for Great Lakes shipping will be carried out again this year. Meanwhile, those from the city government hope to use some of the resulting soil to expand a wetlands area. In a statement, the Army Corps of Engineers office in Buffalo, New York, confirmed it plans to carry out dredging in Sandusky this year and said some of the soil will be deposited near Marblehead. Up to 110,000 cubic yards of sediment will be dredged, according to spokesman Avery Schneider, broken down like this: • Up to 10,000 cubic yards of material will be placed at a designated open lake site in Lake Erie. • Up to 100,000 cubic yards will be placed in a littoral placement site just northeast of the Bay Point neighborhood of Marblehead. "Littoral placement refers to a dredged sediment management practice in which suitable coarse-grained dredged sediment is placed in an authorized near-shore placement area," Schneider said. "The intent of littoral placement is to retain coarse-grained sediment near the shore where it provides value to habitat and coastal resiliency." Schneider also discussed recent dredging activity in Sandusky's harbor. "In 2022 and 2023, we placed material in the Cedar Point Causeway wetland cells located on the west side of Cedar Point Drive. We did not dredge in 2024 due to a lack of placement area. In 2025, we dredged 9,000 cubic yards and placed it in the open lake site," he said. Expanding an existing wetland The city is working on a plan to use dredged soil to expand an existing wetland, said Josh Snyder, Sandusky's interim public works director. Snyder said the soil from the dredging project will be deposited in the wetlands project the city has developed next to Cedar Point Causeway, expanding the area covered by the wetland Schneider mentioned in his statement. A design plan must be completed, but the Army Corps of Engineers and another involved agency, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, seem happy with the plan so far, Snyder said. Snyder said completing the design should be done in about a couple of months. Once the two interested agencies approve it, that would allow dredging and construction of the expanded wetlands to be carried out this fall. Snyder said the city and the Army Corps of Engineers will have to continue to work to find places for dredged soil. Comments from Captur U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, recently provided more details on planned Army Corps of Engineers work in Sandusky and Port Clinton. Kaptur said the planned dredging in Sandusky discussed by Schneider will cost just over $1.8 million and will be carried out later this year. She said $250,000 of that will be used for a long-term plan for finding places for soil dredged from Sandusky's harbor. Kaptur said another approximately $4.3 million will be spent for repairs to the east and west jetties of Port Clinton's harbor. The harbor supports ferry service in Lake Erie and dozens of charter fishing boats, Kaptur noted. Plans call for awarding a construction contract for the Port Clinton work this fall, with work to be carried out next year. A public works administrator? Snyder was named Sandusky's interim public works director in November after the longtime director, Aaron Klein, left to take another job. Snyder was offered the permanent job but turned it down. He explained that while he is happy to serve in an interim role, he likes being an engineer who works on projects better than being an administrator who goes to meetings. John Orzech, Sandusky's city manager, said that when the city first searched for a new public works director, it found there were few candidates who had the required engineering degree and also had a background in working for cities. So the city changed the position to public works administrator, a job that didn't require an engineering degree, interviewed candidates and offered jobs to a couple of people. They declined, Orzech said. Orzech said the search continues, but the city wants to find the right person. "We trust Josh and his team," Orzech said. "We're not in any hurry to fill the position until we get a right fit." Sandusky recently hired a young engineer, Preston Ray, to help Snyder, Orzech said. According to his Facebook page, Ray is a Bellevue native and Ohio Northern University product.