By:KIMBERLY ACEVEDO
City officials concur the City by the Sea needs some protection against future storms and erosion, but many wonder if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Storm Damage Reduction Project is the answer.
I think that the essence of their project is a good one,City Council member Scott Nigro said. We definitely need our beaches replenished. We definitely need the groins redone, and the issue of where to get the sand from I can only leave to the experts.
However, several council members expressed concerns with the USACE project and may consider holding a referendum in order to get public opinion. The growth rate, maintenance and the aesthetic/economic impact the dunes would have makes officials weary.
One top official is concerned with the USACE's success rate.
I go by someone's reputation and what they have done in the past. Past performance dictates future performance,said Long Beach City Council Vice President Barbara Mosca, who questions the Army Corps's tract record. Mosca said she visited Ocean City N.J., a barrier island whose beach was part of a USACE project and thought the dunes there ruined the aesthetic quality of the beach.
In Long Beach, the USACE proposes to refurbish the 15 existing groins, also known as jetties, add 110-feet of sand, and a dune measuring 15 feet above sea level. The dune would be located in front of the Boardwalk. As the beach would be built up to ten feet above sea level, the new dune would only stand five feet high and would be two feet less than the height of the Boardwalk. Engineers would then construct finger boardwalks leading out over the new dune from the current boardwalk to the beach.
Council member Denis Kelly said he is concerned about the height the dunes could attain after they are built, and who would be responsible for the maintenance of them. Army Corps officials have said they would return every five years to control the growth. But some council members said the plan has changed a few times and that has them concerned. Joseph Vietri, a USACE representative said the city would be responsible for maintaining the dune profile as well as the beach profile. We would work with them to come up with different structural fencing...to maintain the height.
Such additional maintenance responsibility could create an additional cost for taxpayers. Joel Crystal, president of the city council, said the city has enough time to put together a good financial plan and see how it affects our beach revenue.
While a couple of city officials questioned the importance of having the dunes at all and want to work on a plan that would eliminate them, some geologists believe the dunes are necessary. Those dunes are the only protection against those waves,said Fred Wolff, a Hofstra University professor of Geology and Coastal Studies. Wolff believes that on a global basis, the sea level is slowly rising and that If they don't do anything, gradually the beaches will deteriorate.
The city also has concerns for the residents that live on the bay side. Officials worry that pushing the ocean back over 100 feet with the sand will cause the sea level to rise on the bay side during a major storm.
Julian Kane, an adjunct professor of Geology and Environmental Science at Hofstra University, said that while sea level is rising, the displacement of the ocean by the beach would not be large enough to cause the water to rise on the bay side of Long Beach.
Officials are unsure whether they will participate in the Army Corps project, but a letter of intent will have to be signed by Dec. 1 if they are to move ahead at all.
We have to make a decision,Crystal said. We're trying to get around to other parts of the community to get more of a consensus about how the population feels about it.
