On Tuesday, June 23, the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) unanimously approved Bristol’s application to construct a new fuel facility consisting of a 12,000-gallon, double-walled tank on a concrete pad, fencing, protective bollards, underground lines and a new floating dock and gangway on the State Street Dock.

The CRMC approval is contingent on the fencing designed to obscure the fuel tank passing Historic District Commission approval.

Testifying in favor of the project, Harbormaster Gregg Marsili said, “There’s a big demand because there is nothing in the local area. We get a lot of transient boaters … It has become very popular to come to Bristol, and the biggest question we’re asked is where to get fuel.”

It’s a facility, he said, that will be as welcome by local commercial and recreational boaters as it will be by visitors. “We have a very robust fishing fleet. They are looking forward to it,” he said. “Right now in the harbor we’ve got about 400 boats on moorings, and they are pretty excited.”

One of the members of the CRMC board also spoke in favor. Mike Hudner, who has long kept a boat in the mooring field near the Herreshoff dock, said, “I think this is a great project, and I’m impressed by how thoughtfully it has been conceived.”

It’s a project that is coming together quite nicely for Bristol, considering that on Monday the town received notice that they would be receiving a $623,729 federal grant to help construct 19 new boat slips and this very fuel dock. It’s part of a Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) that the town will be receiving thanks to the efforts of Sen. Jack Reed, whose office announced the grant.

“This federal funding will help boost the local economy by making Bristol more welcoming to boaters. I commend Bristol for putting together a successful bid. These federal dollars will help put people to work making these improvements … and provide a needed lift to local shops and restaurants by attracting more visitors to Bristol,” said Senator Reed in a statement.

The federal BIG grants are administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Grantees use BIG funds to construct, renovate, and maintain marinas and other facilities. It was a $861,000 BIG Grant, also secured by Senator Reed, that helped Bristol turn the downtown Naval Reserve Armory into a municipal maritime center.

Funding for the BIG program comes from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund. Boaters and manufacturers contribute to the trust fund through excise taxes and duties on certain fishing and boating equipment and boating fuels. The federal grants require a local match.

Patrick “Pat” McCarthy, co-founder and current spokesman for “BOOM!” (Build Our Ocean Marina!), a group comprised of some 150 wait-listed Bristol boat owners, said “This is an important state government approval for installing the town’s new fuel dock depot, and is a culminating event of five years of work in the realization of seeing our public marina capacity eventually expanded, in the near-term. Our members are extremely appreciative of the leadership on this effort by the Bristol Town Council, the Bristol Harbor Commission/Advisory Committee and the former Bristol Economic Development Commission. Bristol Harbormaster Gregg Marsili and Town Administrator Steve Contente have kept these capital projects at the top of the town’s priority list.”

“I’ve heard from our commercial fishermen, business owners and residents. We think we can do this in an environmentally friendly way, and we are looking forward to this,” said Town Administrator Steven Contente.

Asked by CRMC chairman Jennifer Cervenka about the proposed construction timeline, Harbormaster Gregg Marsili said, “I’d love to have it constructed by the end of the summer. That would be the goal.”