CLAYTON — The $2 million job to install docks for transient boaters at the edge of the former Frink site may spill into late summer.

Initially, Clayton hoped to see the construction completed by the beginning of the 2013 summer tourist season. But the pending sale of the former Frink America property prompted local officials to consider tweaking the final project designs to better accommodate the hotel developer, even if it means delaying the project.

“Because we’re so close to choosing a hotel developer, it would be silly not to wait,” said Mayor Norma J. Zimmer.

On Nov. 30, the town, village and Clayton Local Development Corp. are expected to select either the Buffalo-based Krog Corp. or a group of local property owners, under the name Clayton Associates LP, to build a high-end hotel on the 8.4-acre Frink site.

However, Frink’s most valued riverfront will remain public domain, and the dock project is Clayton’s latest effort to lure even more recreational boaters to the tourism-driven village.

The plan is to install up to 56 slips for transient boats between the east side of Frink and Washington Island.

Next to the docks will be a boaters’ amenity building with showers, restrooms, coin-operated laundry machines, recreational space and the dockmaster’s office.

The project is funded by a $1.1 million federal matching grant Clayton secured in 2010. The rest will be covered through the sale of the $2.1 million Frink property.

Soon after a hotel developer is chosen, Mayor Zimmer said, dock project engineers and the developer will review each other’s project designs to determine where the new sewage pumping station, which will be used by the hotel and the proposed boaters amenity building, should be built, among other things.

Earlier this year, Clayton hired Applied Technology Management Inc. — an international coastal, environmental, marine and water resources engineering, design and consulting firm based in Charleston, S.C. — as its general dock project consultant and Clough, Harbor & Associates, an Albany engineering firm with an office in Syracuse, as the consultant’s partner.

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