The pier will be near O'Sullivan's Island, under the Route 8 bridge on the Derby-Shelton border.
DERBY — A long-delayed fishing pier and viewing platform slated for O’Sullivan’s Island is angling for a debut later this year.
The Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen (BOA/A) approved a bid in December to Terry Contracting & Materials, Inc. of Riverhead, NY to build the pier and platform that will overlook the Housatonic River. A $497,245 contract was signed last month, according to the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments.
Two bids were received, and Terry Contracting was the low bidder, according to minutes from the BOA/A. The company has previous experience with similar projects, having completed the Fort Nathan Hale Pier reconstruction project in New Haven and the Al Bennett Fishing Pier in Bridgeport’s Seaside Park.
Construction is set to get underway in the next few weeks, with completion expected by the end of the year — or sooner — according to officials with Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG).
“I am pleased that we can bring this long-awaited project to construction,” Mayor Richard Dziekan said in a prepared statement. “As an avid fisherman myself, I look forward to our residents beginning to enjoy an expanded opportunity to enjoy the Housatonic River. Hopefully, this provides a catalyst for increased use of the Greenway and O’Sullivan’s Island.”
The wood platform will be 80 feet by16 feet. It will be handicapped-accessible and extend 30 feet into the river. In addition, the project will include four benches. The pier will be located close to where the Housatonic River meets the Naugatuck River near Derby’s Greenway. An existing parking lot for the Greenway with about 10 spaces is already there.
The project will be overseen by NVCOG, who is managing the grants that will fund the project. A $325,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with a $204,252 grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection through the federal Sport Fish Restoration Program, will pay for the project, according to the COG.
The money originates from a $15 million settlement General Electric paid for polluting the Housatonic River.
The fishing pier has been under discussion since 2009.
The project was approved in 2015, but several factors, including acquiring necessary permits and reviews, funding and a turnover in staff, delayed the project, according to Karen Svetz, regional transportation engineer for NVCOG. The project, Svetz said, has since undergone “rigorous environmental reviews” and received a greenlight from several local, state and federal agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S Fish and Wildlife Services, and National Marine Fisheries Service.
“I’m happy to report it’s finally ready to go to construction,” Svetz said.
Derby’s Chief of Staff Walt Mayhew, an avid fisherman, said he’s looking forward to the grand opening.
“The confluence of the Naugatuck and Housatonic Rivers has been a hot spot for shore fishermen for as long as I can remember,” Mayhew said via an email to the Valley Indy. “With the pier being 30 feet from shore, it provides an awesome opportunity for fishermen to fish all the way out to the middle of the Housatonic for large sea water fish such as striped bass and Atlantic salmon that migrate up-river in the spring. I will most definitely be wetting a line off the pier.”
An environmental engineering consultant group, HRP Associates, Inc., based in Farmington, designed the project. Once the project is complete, Derby will be responsible for its maintenance.
O’Sullivan’s Island is not an actual island but rather a strip of land at the confluence of the Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers, and has been used for fishing, picnics and other passive recreation. It has been the site of Brownfields cleanups and PCB removal.
Press play to watch a 13-minute overview of the project by NVCOG from 2021.
