Legislators Vow to Keep Pushing for Presque Isle Funding

Federal legislators from the Erie region have already been appealing for funding for 2017 sand work at Presque Isle State Park.

“We are writing to request that sand replenishment for Presque Isle State Park is once again made a high-priority project in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) FY2017 budget,” wrote U.S. Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly, R-3rd Dist., and Glenn Thompson, R-5th Dist., in a September letter.

Four months later, the Presque Isle Advisory Committee heard that no federal funds have been earmarked at this point for the project at the park that drew 4.3 million visitors in 2016. Park Operations Manager Matt Greene told the group Wednesday that Presque Isle is potentially facing a second year without federal funding for sand work, although the possibility of getting money does still exist.

“We’ll keep trying,” Kelly, who represents Erie, said Thursday.

Advisory committee members said it was critical that Congress members know the importance of the sand work, which is needed to combat erosion that can jeopardize the park’s infrastructure and ecosystem. Legislators said they already agree that Presque Isle is a priority because of its economic, environmental and recreational value.

“Why wouldn’t you want to protect this entity?” Kelly said.

Thompson said in a statement that “millions of Americans flock to Presque Isle each year to enjoy its pristine beaches” and he is “committed to maintaining the shoreline’s integrity. I have urged the Army Corps to make Presque Isle a high-priority project as we finish the appropriations process for the current fiscal year and will be doing the same as we begin to address fiscal year 2018. Presque Isle is a must-see destination and the PA Congressional Delegation, both House and Senate, will continue to work to keep it that way.”

A spokeswoman for Toomey said he “will continue to work with state, local and federal officials on a bipartisan basis so that the Corps of Engineers understands how important the park is to northwestern Pennsylvania.”

Toomey, Thompson, Kelly and Casey have come together in the past to push for sand money for Presque Isle. But ultimately, Kelly said, the decision rests with the Corps of Engineers, which didn’t provide funding in 2016.

“We just didn’t get the response we wanted last year,” he said.

For several years before 2016, the park received about $3 million annually for sand work, with half from federal funding and the other half from the state. With no federal contribution in 2016 because other projects were ranked higher on a funding list, only about two-thirds of the usual sand work could be done with $1.5 million from the state and $500,000 left from previous projects.

Greene on Wednesday said the current condition of Presque Isle’s beaches is “rough,” with significant storms and a lack of protective ice coverage this winter causing sand to move and leave beaches narrow in some locations.

Source: GoErie