City approves noise ordinance for nighttime bulkhead removal

Blaine City Council unanimously approved a temporary noise ordinance waiver for nighttime bulkhead repair at Blaine Harbor during a November 19 special meeting.

Council voted to authorize city manager Michael Jones to approve the temporary noise ordinance waiver that allows the Port to work outside normal city construction hours, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturdays, according to the ordinance.

The Port of Bellingham started installing a new steel sheet pile bulkhead the night of the meeting, November 19, and continued November 20. There will be no work during the week of Thanksgiving but construction will resume five days a week starting November 30 and is expected to end December 23, said Greg Nicoll, Port of Bellingham senior project manager, during the special city council meeting.

Construction will take eight hours per night centered around low tide, which is between 8 p.m. and 3 a.m. in the winter, according to Port documents.

“We have an existing timber bulkhead that’s been in place for upward of 50 years,” Nicoll said. “It’s starting to effectively fall into the water so we’re in a fairly urgent need to replace that bulkhead.”

The construction, officially known as the Blaine Harbor Bulkhead Repair and Replacement Project, includes demolition, pile installation, repairs and replacements to the Boundary Fish, Walsh and Sawtooth piers, said Stacie Pratschner, city of Blaine community development director, during the meeting.

Nicoll compared noise from construction at 281 McMillan Avenue to a loud electronic toothbrush that will measure 85 to 100 decibels.

“We anticipate the noise would be down around 55 decibels when it reaches residential areas, which would be slightly more than noise from I-5 traffic,” Nicoll said.

The Port sent the request to the city November 16 after waiting for permits on the state and federal level. The Port is bound by an in-water work window of August 1 to February 15, Nicoll said.

After being asked by council if waiting until next August was a possibility, Nicoll said it would be dangerous to wait nine months for the repairs, as well as it creating a high cost impact for the Port. Even with more favorable tides in August, the Port wouldn’t have been able to complete construction during work hours, he added.