DOT has concrete solution for ramp.

• Position: N.C. Department of Transportation to remove debris in Brunswick River - Brief Article

In 1995, Belville decided to get in on the tourist boom. The Brunswick County town, population 285, was trying, quite literally, to make a name for itself. Chartered in 1977, Belville does not show up on some state maps. It's overshadowed by Wilmington, its neighbor to the east.

It seemed so simple. The town would build a boat ramp on the Brunswick River. It might not be the area's top tourist draw, but the chance to avoid busier ramps would give visitors a reason to come to Belville. But since it was built six years ago for $60,000, it has been used only by extremely shallow-draft craft whose helmsmen must pick their way past concrete and steel rubble, dumped there as fish habitat when the N.C. Department of Transportation tore down a bridge in the 1970s.

Dredging is the usual way to deal with the problem. But the Division of Marine Fisheries says no. That would disturb the river bottom and tidal flats, fragile habitats for marine life. "We told the folks up front that we would not agree to any disturbance of the bottom," a Marine Fisheries spokesman says. The town filed a series of appeals of appeals, and DOT agreed to...