The Katama boat landing reconstruction project took a step forward on Monday with the Edgartown select board approval of a contract to get work started in the fall.

The town is splitting the cost of the project with the state, which owns the landing. In 2016, a representative from the Massachusetts department of fish and game determined that the landing needed to be completely reconstructed due to deterioration over the years. Since then, a gauntlet of regulatory permits as well as the pandemic have delayed the project.

“It’s been a while coming but here it is, so that’s good news,” selectwoman Margaret Serpa said.

The contract, which was awarded to Robert B. Our, Co. out of Harwich, is for roughly $1.4 million. Edgartown residents have approved a total of $295,000 through two separate town meeting votes. The state has agreed to cover the rest of the project.

The project is expected to begin in October, just after the end of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby, town administrator James Hagerty said. The project is expected to be completed by next spring.

“Immediately after the Derby we’ll start renovating that area, make it wider, give people a little better access,” Mr. Hagerty said.

In other business, Edgartown fire chief Alex Schaeffer informed the board about Sunday evening’s accident at the Jaws Bridge in Oak Bluffs that left one person dead and another missing. The Edgartown police and fire departments assisted with the search but to date have not been able to locate the missing person, Mr. Schaeffer said.

“Despite our efforts we were not able to save those individuals,” Mr. Schaeffer said. “It was extensive and we’re all very saddened by the outcome of it.”

Ms. Serpa thanked Mr. Schaeffer and everyone else involved with the search.

“That sounds like it was very difficult and very hard to do under the circumstances,” Ms. Serpa said. “Everyone that was there and helped and everything really needs to be thanked. It’s a sad day.”