Cornet Bay dock restored

It’s been four long years, but Cornet Dock Manager Bud Rogers is getting a new pier.

Work began Tuesday morning to remove a 20-year-old section of rotting wood that posed as the walkway down to the floats at the Cornet Bay Dock. Crews removed two large sections with an excavator to make way for the aluminum pier.

“Little by little,” Rogers said of the construction at the dock.

It is not a full-blown marina. It lacks the modern amenities of power and water services for which people pay hundreds of dollars. Instead, it is a rickety conglomeration of floating boards that for $2 per day or $200 per year, people can store their boats.

But Island County Parks Manager Terri Arnold is out to change that. After the county came within days of selling the donated land, a group of local citizens voiced their concern over the sale. It became Arnold’s goal to turn the place into a viable storage option.

“It was one of those things where we needed to make a decision,” she said. “We either surplus the land and sell it, which we were close to doing when the community said ‘Whoa,’ or let’s fix it up and do all the things we are able to do.”

Once the $25,000 project is finished, Rogers can install seven replacement floats.

Walking down the dock is risky business. It creaks and rocks with each step. But the shiny new aluminum structure being installed this week will distract from that.

“We’re going to make it work one way or the other,” General Contractor Bob Governor said as his crew ripped the old walkway out.

The future of the dock is secure, Arnold said. What it won’t do, however, is grow.

“We’re pretty much limited on how much we can do with it,” Arnold said.

One thing that will happen is the fees will go up. It will still be a bargain for boaters, and the increase in fees will mean an increase in maintenance, Arnold said.

“I want to make it equitable,” she said. “I want the fees to reflect what kind of maintenance I’m going to put in it.”

You can reach News-Times reporter Eric Berto at eberto@whidbeynewstimes.com

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