The Dunkirk Common Council has approved an engineering study on new breakwaters for Dunkirk Harbor.

The council passed a resolution Tuesday authorizing the hire of Proof Projects, LLC of Charlottesville, Virginia for the study. The study will get paid for with $75,000 in grant money.

The company “submitted a proposal to conduct a study designed to build on the best available science and an understanding of community needs to consider how the coastal processes affecting the harbor may help enhance the functioning of the harbor and adjacent coastal areas, including ecological and social functions.” That’s according to the resolution passed Tuesday.

The proposed study “will especially consider enhanced protection for the harbor and Lake Front Boulevard, maintaining navigation, enhancing recreational and habitat opportunities, and minimizing future dredging needs.”

City officials want to put in offshore breakwaters along Lake Front Boulevard, like what exists along the west side of Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pa. They’ve also floated putting more barriers in the harbor itself, to improve protection against wave action, sedimentation and storms.

Dunkirk got a $4.7 million grant appropriation for the barriers in the latest federal budget, noted city Planning and Developmemt Director Vince DeJoy Tuesday.