Nov 28, 2012 11:23 AM
The Southampton Town Board unanimously approved a $24 million beach renourishment project for the ocean beaches of Water Mill, Bridgehampton and Sagaponack on Tuesday night.
The project, which had earlier this year been shelved by town lawmakers until next spring, was revived and fast-tracked following the damage to homes and beaches during Hurricane Sandy.
With the project approved by the town, it will now be scheduled for a public referendum sometime early next year. The Suffolk County Board of Elections will be responsible for scheduling the vote, which state law dictates must take place between 60 and 75 days from Tuesday night’s approval—most likely some time in early March. Only the residents of the two special taxing districts—125 property owners in all—or their representatives will be eligible to cast votes.
The town also announced on Tuesday that the leaders of the group of homeowners who have spearheaded the planning and proposal of the project have agreed to have the private property owners absorb about $1.5 million of the town’s portion of the total project. The town was initially to pay approximately $3 million of the total cost, for the five public beaches the town owns in the project area. The town will still have to pay about $1.5 million, but that money will be taken from special reserved park district funds and will not have any tax impact on town residents. As a result, the project will not have a direct tax impact on town taxpayers, other than those residents of the taxing districts.
Town Councilman Chris Nuzzi said on Tuesday evening that making the project tax-neutral for the town was an important step in moving the project forward with the Town Board. “I think that was a critical component of this, to have no impact on town residents’ taxes,” he said after the vote. “It’s a good project.”
With the portion picked up from the town, the project, which will pump more than 2.5 million tons of sand onto the ocean beaches between Flying Point Beach in Water Mill and Townline Road in Sagaponack, will cost the homeowners of the two taxing districts nearly $26 million in total. If the project is approved at the ballot box, the money will be borrowed by the town and paid back over 10 years through a special tax levy only on the oceanfront properties. Those residents will pay between a few thousand dollars and more than $200,000 per year, depending on the amount of oceanfront on each property.
The town approved the project with the understanding that legislation introduced by state lawmakers eventually will allow town officials to exempt two properties from paying the tax—those owned by the White family in Sagaponack and by the Bridgehampton Club—because they have conservation easements over their oceanfront land.
On Tuesday night, supporters of the project affirmed the urgency of broadening the beaches—by 60 to 80 feet, according to the project’s specifications—in the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction.
“The greater the width of the beach, the better protection you have—that became plainly evident after Sandy,” said Town Chief Environmental Analyst Marty Shea. “Those areas where we had wide beaches are where you saw the least impacts and damage to houses.”
Working on the assumption of broad support among the residents of the taxing districts, the project’s proponents now will start working on the timing of the actual work. State and federal restrictions on dredging the ocean floor, where the sand for the new beachhead will be drawn from, normally limit such work along the oceanfront to the dead of winter. But some advocates have said it may be possible to receive exemptions if proper environmental safety protocols are put in place, such as monitoring the movement of federally protected piping plovers in the area where the beach construction is taking place.
Escaping the time limits could allow the project to go ahead as early as next summer, so that the new beachhead could be in place should another hurricane or early-season nor’easter strike the area next year.
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This is an utter waste of $$ and while it is good to hear that the homeowners are ...more picking up SOME of the bill - they should pick up all of it OR the Town Taxpayers should be able to vote on this. I don't care if it's coming from a "park fund" it's still money that the Town collected on the backs of taxpayers and as a taxpayer I should have a say.
Editor: Can you please tell me the following:
1. How much will this special election cost the Town of Southampton (A special election for HIghway Supervisor in Brookhaven is costing nearly $500,000)
2. How much does First Coastal stand to make on this contract?
3. How much money has First Coastal received from the Town over the last 5 years?
I know they won't be answered - but MAYBE it will provoke SOMEONE over there to dig a little deeper. This whole thing is a joke
As for the arguement that the Town makes that it helps protect our TOWN beaches - guess what, there will always ...more be a beach at the end of the road (literally) - my public access isn't going anywhere (but inland). If the taxpayers are paying for it with government dollars - then the taxpayers should have EQUAL VOTING powers... why do the beachfront owners get a vote but not the rest of us?
I am not sure what the long term future will hold re global warming and the water level, but this seems like we are getting a pretty good deal in that the home owners are funding most of this, and the beaches that we use benefit at a much lower cost. This of course is only good for however long it lasts. It also seems that areas that had previously done this did better in the storm, but that it not a scientific fact just an observation from one storm.
Total waste. They are not interested in saving the beach, just their houses.
Just a hunch, but I believe the dunes and beach would be stronger if they didn't build hotel sized houses in the middle of them.
Fiddle Fiddle Fiddle !!!
Although the Politicos say non-oceanfront residents are not paying - how does $1.5M of designated park money get spent shoring up rich folks oceanfront homes? I'd rather see it spent on public areas that are accessible to everyone.
second- assuming it is a feasible project from an engineering standpoint - everyone benefits by preserving larger public beaches.
opposition is one thing, being completely uninformed is another.
National newspapers and magazines have been running articles since Sandy by experts who all agree that our seas are rising, more large storms ...more can be expected and that beach replenishment is a waste because it will get washed away. Some even argue that damaged structures should not be rebuilt because it will cost too much to replace them repeatedly as the climate worsens, which is food for thought.
With all the information out there, why has our Town Board determindly rushed into this project rather than made any attempt to consult some nationally renown outside experts who do not stand to profit locally. Instead, the board is relying solely on a number of local experts and given them long term consulting contracts. These same experts are also being employed by the oceanfront home owners. There is a clear conflict of interest in this arrangement.
Not true - MANY of these homeowners conduct their own dune reconstruction projects every winter/spring. Perhaps it's your belief that these homeowners should literally do whatever they want to protect their homes, then you're wrong. You think it's OK for homeowners to dump cars/install metal bulkheads/sheathing and pile cesspool rings in front of their home? What happens when the beach gets eroded and now those ...more objects are below the high tide line on what is now MY beach?
My new motto is build smarter - not harder.
"The town approved the project with the understanding that legislation introduced by state lawmakers eventually will allow town officials to exempt two properties from paying the tax—those owned by the White family in Sagaponack and by the Bridgehampton Club—because they have conservation easements over their oceanfront land."
Why are these properties exempted? What does it matter that they have conservation easements? They are still getting ...more sand - so if that's the case, then why isn't the Town exempted from it?
This distiniction makes it ALL the more obvious that the Town is doing this SOLELY to protect (and add to) private proprety.
The unanimity of the vote manifests that Council members, regardless of party affiliation, have so embedded their noses that they can't see their constituents.