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110 Necaise
467-9031
"* 1 . ?-] VOL. 92, NO. 39
BAY ST. LOUIS, MISSISSIPPI
SINGLE COPY, 25 CENTS
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467-9051
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ByWAYNEDUCOMBJR.
,The State Bureau of Marine Resources will conduct a public hearing Wednesday night regarding an American Legion Post No. 139 proposal to improve facilities at its riprap recreational pier in Bay St Louis.
??The public facility extends into the Mississippi Sound from the intersection of South Beach Boulevard and Washington Street.
.- The pier was subject of a controversy several months ago when access channel dredging work utilizing a Hancock County dragline was halted because the legion had not obtained a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or bureau permit
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Legion Pier hearing set Wednesday at Courthouse
for the work.
Joe Gill, BMR Wetlands Division i chief, at the bureau?s Long Beach head-1 quarters confirmed Friday that the 7 p.m. meeting will be in the Hancock County Courthouse second-floor courtroom in Bay St Louis.
He said the BMR set the hearing, as standard procedure, after receiving two written requests?one from Mrs. Irwin L. Cucullu and another from Louise C. Wilkerson, both residents of Citizen Street in Bay St. Louis.
?I don?t have an option when we receive an objection, I have to set a hearing,? he reported regarding the bureau?s operating procedures.
?This hearing is not just to air objections, but will give the public a chance to air pro and con opinions,? Gill stated Information gathered from the hear ing will be reviewed by the Stat? Wildlife Conservation Commission which will decide if a permit should b? issued to the legion, he said.	|
The bureau is a law enforcement branch of the State Department of Wildlife Conservation which is govern^ ed by the commission.	i
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers? Mobile, Ala. office, which must also issue a permit for the pier work, recently issued a public notice seeking comments and is accepting requests for public hearings regarding the pier work.
Henry Prevou, Legion Executive Committee member and co-chairman of its Pier Committee, Friday confirmed the Bay organization is attempting to secure a 10-year maintenance permit allowing annual dredging of two four-foot-deep channels providing access to and from recreational boat launching ramps and a loading dock.
The two 20-foot-wide channels each extend from the north and south sides of the jetty end to nearby deeper water, Prevou noted.
Channel spoil material, to be removed with a dragline, will be placed in a containment area at the end of the pier
(See diagram), he said.
New improvements include replacing the present single ramp on the south side with a two-lane concrete launch facility with a walkway between, Prevou reported.
Adjacent to the two-lane launch, a 40-foot-long wooden bulkhead topped with a four-foot-wide dock will provide a loading and unloading facility for recreational boaters, he cited.
Prevou said the dock will help pre-
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' diagram of American Legion. Post jYo. 139?s proposed public pier improvements
vent traffic jams at the boat ramps.
In addition, another single-lane ?emergency? concrete boat ramp will be built just north of an existing wooden fishing pier on the east side of the jetty end, the legion co-chairman reported.
?This ramp can be used in case we have a strong west wind causing high waves which would prevent utilizing the double ramp area,? Prevou stated.
In addition, the emergency ramp will allow an all-weather launching facility for the Hancock County Civil Defense?s rescue boat, he reported.
Prevou emphasized the legion pier is strickly a public recreation facility and not for commercial use.
He reported riprap piled along the jetty will be utilized to raise the height of a low section and will also help contain the spoils.
?We?re building a better facility for the people to launch their boats,? Prevou stated.
He said legion members will donate labor for the improvements and the organization will provide some $3,500 for materials.
The committee co-chairman also revealed the group plans to rebuild the wooden pier which was destroyed by a freak January storm.
He added the pier cost $8,100 to replace when it was destroyed in a prior storm.
Meeting guidelines for the BMR hearing directs anyone wishing to comment or provide a statement to fill out a card at the door, a legion spokesman will first be allowed to explain the project, formal objectors will be asked to speak ? and then other comments regarding the project will be allowed.	~
Comments to the Corps should be made before June 6 and refer to Public Notice No. MS8300095-D; be addressed ' to the District Engineer, U.S. Army''' Engineer District, Mobile, P. O. Box* 2288, Mobile, Ala. 36628, Attention:;, Regulatory Branch; or telephone Dean Small at 205-690-3185.