Combat Beach Erosion
The Southampton Town Board met with representatives of the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Army Corps of Engineers on Monday to discuss how the town can develop a "breach contingency plan" to protect town beaches from storm erosion.
The board's action follows a series of weekend storms that have wiped out the dune at W. Scott Cameron Beach in Bridgehampton and which many people say has been exacerbated by a cofferdam constructed by William Rudin to protect a dune restoration project at his property.
Pavilion Plan
Over the next 30 days, the town "will identify where potential breach hazards exist and develop plans to close them," said Supervisor Vincent Cannuscio. Now, the town only has plans for areas just west of the Shinnecock Inlet and in Westhampton Beach, he added.
The town would be better served by having a "proactive plan instead of responding to problems that arise," Mr. Cannuscio said.
In the meantime, the Town Board last week announced that it would hold off on replacing the pavilion at the beach, which was destroyed by fire a year ago. The town had planned to build the structure on the site of the old one, near the dune, but will now consider moving it farther from harm's way.
Last year, the Parks Department provided portable lavatories at the beach. It will likely do so again next year.
Although town workers had to move hundreds of yards of sand to shore up the dune at Cameron Beach, the town has not blamed the erosion on a 300-foot-long cofferdam at the Rudin property.
Settle Lawsuit
The town approved a permit for the work to settle a $75 million lawsuit filed by Mr. Rudin and his neighbors who wanted to build a series of revetments along their oceanfront boundaries off Dune Road.
Mr. Cannuscio generally agreed with Mr. Rudin's assessment that an "erosional hot spot was probably causing the damage." He said Charles Hamilton of the D.E.C. reported that approximately 140 feet of beach had eroded at Cameron since May 1997.
Putting In Overtime
"The erosion was occurring without the intervention of the Rudin cofferdam," Mr. Cannuscio said, although he added the structure, which rises 15 feet above sea level and forms a solid barrier against the surf, "may have worsened the situation, but I don't know the answer to that."
Mr. Rudin's permit for the cofferdam expires on Dec. 6. Workers have been putting in overtime to complete the project by that deadline.
The Town Board held a formal meeting on Tuesday. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, it has canceled its Friday work session this week. The board will hold its next work session on Friday, Dec. 5.