Hamilton County Congress-man Bill Owens of the 23rd Congressional District visited Inlet on Wednesday, August 31, to kick off a $83,500 USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant awarded to the Town of Inlet to reconstruct a 12-foot dock at Woods Inn that was located there one hundred years ago.
An old photo of the original dock, which was once a steamboat landing, was used in the design to reconstruct the new dock, according to Nick Rose, Executive Director of CAP-21.
CAP-21 applied for the grant for Inlet, and Heroux Construction of Old Forge is handling the construction.
Congressman Owens looked down on the site of the partially constructed dock from the grounds of Woods Inn, as Town of Inlet Supervisor, John Frey, and other town officials talked with him about the project.
Rose was also among the group that met that afternoon to discuss other Town of Inlet projects with the Congressman.
At an earlier date, Supervisor Frey explained that the grant had to be facilitated by a municipality, so the town was the go-between for the project.
“We opened the bids and we’re making sure that all payments are processed in accordance with the grant. The paperwork was handled by CAP-21,” he said.
Technically the town is leasing a 1-foot deep by 12-foot wide section of the dock, he said, and the Town is building the dock.
At the end of a seven year lease it will revert back to the owners of Woods Inn.
“The only requirement by the town was that Woods Inn will carry the $3 million umbrella policy for liability to protect the residents of the town and the taxpayers,” said Jay Latterman, co-owner of Woods Inn.
“Technically the Town owns a 1-foot by 12-foot section of the dock to facilitate the grant process. But more importantly, the project is providing economic stimulus for the town. We have always allowed our facility to be a public facility. Anyone who wants to dock there can do so and then walk into town,” he added.
Latterman said the new dock will add another 10 spaces for that purpose.
He added that Woods Inn is negotiating with Old Forge Lake Cruises to offer tours up to Inlet now that the new dock will be large enough to tie up the tour boat.
“Our philosophy is that in a small community, you need to help each other out and basically our responsibility being here is to be a part of the community and not just be self-serving,” Latterman said.
