The city plans to conduct emergency repairs on the Oak Harbor Marina, which incurred major damage during the wind storm on Dec. 16.

At a meeting on Tuesday, after press deadline, city council members were expected to approve a resolution declaring the need for emergency repairs to the Oak Harbor Marina.

Parks and Rec Director Brian Smith, City Clerk Julie Nester and Finance Director David Goldman submitted the request for the resolution. Due to the storm, the failure of the breakwater panels at the Oak Harbor Marina constitute an emergency, according to the damage report in the city council agenda packet. The staff request will authorize the city to bypass bidding rules to facilitate as rapid a repair as possible.

According to report, during the night of the Dec. 16 storm, the marina sustained most of its damage along the north side of the F dock, as well as significant damage to several structural components throughout the facility. Among these damages, panels migrated or detached from the dock, two boats were battered due to fenders that didn’t stay in place, through-rods holding floats together broke and the log boom running east to west along the harbormaster’s office broke loose.

Following the incident, staff assessed all damages and began immediate repairs. The owners of the damaged boats were notified first, and water was cut off to the South F dock to prevent further harm, according to the damage report. Staff temporarily reconnected the log boom so no more debris would fall into the marina. Staff also moved vessels from the very south end of the marina to help the repair process and prevent additional damage. To avoid loss of service to the docks, the crews also re-secured the water main under the main gangway. Divers visited the marina on Dec. 22 to collect the panels that had fallen off during the storm. These steps were a few of multiple actions taken by marina staff to ensure immediate issues were accounted for, according to the report.

With the emergency repair resolution in place, the other four panels that are still hanging on will need to be cut free to prevent additional damage, the report states. Once the rods that were broken in the storm can be replaced, staff will conduct cement repairs and install new whalers, it adds. The report notes that the failed breakwater panels will need to be substituted to maintain proper swell attenuation and to prevent larger waves from entering the marina and causing additional damage to the infrastructure and vessels. The failure of the breakwater panels poses a liability for the city if not repaired promptly, according to the damage report, and constitutes as an emergency under the city’s purchasing policy.

The marine engineering firm that is already under contract for the Marina Dredging and Breakwater projects, Moffat and Nichol, is working with American Construction on the repair scope and cost estimate, according to the city council packet. The city is exploring claim coverage with its insurer, Washington Cities Insurance Authority, it states, with a current property insurance claim deductible on the marina at $100,000.

With operations projected to begin in February, in the meantime, marina staff have blocked off access to the north end of F dock where most of the damage occurred, and are monitoring the dock daily; ready to relocate vessels if the dock is deemed unsafe, the agenda states.