OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford People lower a boat into Dunkirk Harbor on Friday. The harbor’s docks and slips for boaters are reportedly fully open for the season.

The docks are ready at Dunkirk Harbor, removing a source of irritation for city officials and boaters alike.

Both of the docks at the launch ramps are now repaired and installed, city Department of Public Works Director Randy Woodbury confirmed. In addition, he said the contractors that are working on the lake wall near the Steger high rise apartments have agreed to haul away two large, broken dock pieces sitting nearby.

Mayor Willie Rosas said Charles Pringle, owner of the Holiday Harbor outfit to which the city leases its Marina, was asked to make various improvements to the docks last year.

Woodbury outlined what has been done so far this year to get the area ready for the season.

“Dock B now has full power and water at every slip,” Pringle wrote. “Dock F has partial power and water at every slip for every customer who paid for utilities. We have about five more electrical boxes to complete and should be done by the end of the day (Friday).”

Except for the Dock F issue, all slips at the docks were installed and all had full water and power.

In response to concerns from Dunkirk Common Council member Nancy Nichols, he noted that Dock E will again not be installed this year. Also, “Due to being efficient and damaged docks we consolidated the 12 customers on D Dock into other areas of the Marina,” Pringle wrote in an email to Woodbury. “We communicated this to our existing customers and everyone understood and are fine with it.”

In a June 8 email, Pringle stated, “As you know, we experienced severe and abnormal storms and lake conditions the past two fall seasons. We elected to remove all of the floating docks that were damaged. We had full time crews work over the winter to rebuild the dock system. To date we have spent over $100,000 in refurbishing the dock system.”

He promised later in that email, “The dock system will be in the best condition in over the past 20 years. We have asked our customers to be patient. We want to do this right. We must keep safety in mind both for our customers and employees.”