The Town of Essex is getting the ball rolling on acquiring Colchester Harbour from the federal government.
A condition assessment report has been completed and recommends $700,000 in maintenance over the next two years with another $4.5-million needed within five to ten years.
Councillor, Larry Snively, is hoping the feds will pick up the entire tab or a good portion of it before transferring ownership.
Snively says the government is looking to off load harbours.
"It's a lot of money, but then once you look at it and if we take it over, the federal government wants to get rid of these harbours. They want to get rid of them and if they do the upgrades and we take it over they wash their hands of the harbour. They have no costs, no further costs there."
He says taking over the harbour would be a great move for the town.
"If the town takes it over, we can basically do what we want to do there. I think with the town running it we can draw more tourism in there for sure. I think the federal government has got to come to the table here."
The town will now meet with local politicians and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans about the acquisition.
If those meetings go well, the next step will be an environmental assessment which is expected to cost the town around $120,000.