CCB MEDIA PHOTO
State Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Matthew Beaton poses with a large-scale $1 million check with the five members of the Sandwich Board of Selectmen, Town Manager George “Bud” Dunham, State Representative Randy Hunt, State Senator Vinny deMacedo and US Congressman Bill Keating.
SANDWICH – With Town Neck Beach and the boardwalk as a backdrop, Sandwich officials gathered yesterday to receive a $1 million check from the state to help with beach renourishment projects.
Sandwich Town Manager George “Bud” Dunham said, the town has been working to solve its erosion problems for many years.
“We’ve worked—it’s not an exaggeration to say—for decades to at least get a partial solution. It’s not everything we need and we’re going to keep fighting for the rest, whether it’s working with the federal, state, or local government, just to try to get things accomplished,” he said.
Matthew Beaton, State Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, came to Sandwich last winter, one month into his new appointment, to see the damage storms had caused to the beach.
“What I saw with my eyes spoke for itself. The damage that was done particularly after the winter storm Juno was remarkable. Actually I think the day I came down here they just started deploying some of the heavy machinery that was out here. You could see the need,” Beaton said.
The town is expected to sign final paperwork this morning with the Army Corps of Engineers for a project to use 150,000 cubic yards of sand dredged from the Cape Cod Canal for Town Neck Beach. Without the agreement, the funding and the permitting, the sand would have been dumped in Cape Cod Bay.
CCB MEDIA PHOTO
The dunes of Town Neck Beach in Sandwich are carved from severe erosion.
The deal almost fell apart earlier this summer when neighbors balked at having to sign permanent easements on their land with the Army Corps in order for sand to go in front of their homes. Dunham worked to save the deal by having the sand placed only on town property.
At an emergency Town Meeting late last month, more than 800 voters gave unanimous approval to using $1.2 million in Community Preservation funds towards the $1.7 million project to bolster the beach and lengthen the boardwalk.
The Army Corps needed to have the $1.7 million in cash in hand in order to start the project. Dunham said yesterday the $1.7 million has not yet been taken out of the town bank account by the Army Corps but he expects that to happen later this week.
Town officials hope the sand placed on Town Neck Beach will serve to bolster the fragile beach and dunes that serve to buffer the town center from flooding.
The $1 million from the state will be used if there are any cost overruns to the project or for future beach renourishment projects, Dunham said.
The town is working on permitting for an even larger project to bring 400,000 cubic yards of sand to be spread from the Cape Cod Canal jetties to Town Neck Beach.
Sandwich Selectman Patrick Ellis, a native of Sandwich, said receiving the money for the project is gratifying.
“This is a wonderful day because it’s an issue where we’re coming together as a community to solve something, and I think it’s really powerful for people to see their government in action, doing something inherently good for everyone,” he said.
Ellis said he is optimistic that the larger project will happen.
“I’m confident that in time that work will get done as well as this work. I think there will be a reconciliation and you’ll see the entire beach renourished some day,” he said.
The Cape Cod Canal dredging project is scheduled to begin this fall and within six months the sand should be placed on Town Neck Beach.
Dunham said the beach will look different.
“Next spring, hopefully, there will be a much larger dune system. The waves will be breaking at least a 100 yards out further than they are today,” he said.
The project is the largest dune restoration project ever attempted in the commonwealth.
“Just the sheer scope of the project, when you look at it on a plan, it’s hard to picture in your own mind’s eye. I think people are going to be shocked just how much sand 150,000 cubic yards is,” Dunham said.
Because the beach will lengthen considerably, the Sandwich Boardwalk will also need to be extended and the walk to the beach will be longer.
Dunham said he does not think people will mind the longer walk.
“It will be nicer because instead of sitting on rocks, they’ll be sitting on sand for once,” he said.
By LAURA M. RECKFORD, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
Speak Your Mind