Long-discussed improvements to a rest stop on the south side of Montauk Highway at the headwaters of Georgica Pond, in Wainscott, could be complete this time next year. The East Hampton Town Board agreed to a plan on Tuesday.
The primary purpose of the improvements is to prevent or treat direct stormwater runoff into the pond, which has at times suffered from poor water quality.
The popular pop-out spot along Route 27, though small, nonetheless needed an array of permits, now received, from the State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Army Corps of Engineers, the State Department of Transportation, and the Department of State. The plan will go out for contractor’s bids this week, with the work expected to begin after Columbus Day.
“It’s the gateway to the town,” said Tom Schaefer of D&B Engineers, who helped design the project. “We don’t want any construction during the peak summer period.”
To help defray costs, the town received a $500,000 grant from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (that agency’s first ever for East Hampton, said Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez). DASNY is the state’s public finance and construction authority and helps finance infrastructure projects. The remainder of costs will come from the Community Preservation Water Quality Fund.
While focus has been on the car pull-off, three areas will be affected, including a small one owned by the Peconic Land Trust that will receive a bio-retention area and a riprap swale — a stony path — to slow stormwater. Similar improvements will be installed along a portion of the somewhat forgotten and vestigial Old Montauk Highway north of Route 27, where a state-regulated wetland runs along its shoulder.
At the main rest stop, a new concrete curb will be built along the southern edge of the parking lot, which will stop stormwater from directly entering the pond. The parking area will be repaved with porous asphalt. What doesn’t seep through will be collected and diverted to an underground stormwater treatment system before it is discharged into the pond.
The system will need to be cleaned out twice a year.
Apart from the functional, there will also be bits of beauty added to what — were it not for the highway — would be a stunning natural area at the pond’s headwaters and Talmage Creek. A split-rail fence and native plants, thickly set, plus a new permeable walkway that will lead to a lookout point, are all planned.
“Our goal here is to have select species that will establish quickly,” said Mr. Schaefer. “The proposed density will minimize the maintenance required and prevent non-native species from encroaching.”
“The plans were developed through Araiys Design,” said Melissa McCarron, a senior environmental analyst with the town’s Natural Resources Department. “But they were vetted by our land acquisition department and Sara Davison, formerly of Friends of Georgica Pond, a botanist.”
Councilman David Lys noted that some have wondered why a rest stop is required there. “You can’t just get rid” of the rest stop, he said, as they are required by state law, based on the distance from the previous stop. Adding that a historical sign will be repainted and replaced, he credited the supervisor, along with former State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and current Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni, for working to get the DASNY grant.
Ms. McCarron said the bid will be out for a month. The project is expected to be awarded to a contractor at the end of May.
“What sort of rainfall event is this designed for?” Councilman Tom Flight asked.
Mr. Schaefer said the water quality tanks are designed to treat “a 90 percent rainfall” (an inch and a half, according to Ms. McCarron), but overflows are all designed for a 10-year storm event.
“Great project,” Mr. Flight said, satisfied.
