Posted on June 5, 2023
The Popponesset approach channel may be dredged this summer despite a variety of delays that have so far made it impossible, according to Mashpee town staff.
Paperwork has been submitted for the channel to be dredged in June, Mashpee Harbormaster Robert Tomaino told residents at an informational meeting on Wednesday, May 31, but the project must be approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the state’s Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program.
The channel is usually dredged annually, Mr. Tomaino told the Enterprise. Mashpee has an intermunicipal agreement with Barnstable County in which the town handles permitting and the county handles the dredging itself, he said.
In an announcement on the town website, Mr. Tomaino said weather, mechanical issues and time-of-year restrictions put in place by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife for habitat protection contributed to the delay.
Mashpee staff and county officials, including dredge program director Kenneth Cirillo and county commissioner Mark R. Forest, discussed the situation with residents on Wednesday evening at Mashpee Public Library. Roughly 50 people attended in person, with more than 90 tuning in via Zoom.
Kenneth Cirillo, director of the Barnstable County Dredge Program, addresses Mashpee residents at the public library on Wednesday evening. Mr. Cirillo gave an overview of the county dredge department, which town staff hope can begin dredging the Popponesset Bay approach channel later this month.
The town is aiming for late June to have the channel dredged, Mr. Tomaino said.
Soliciting dredging services from outside the county would be more expensive, Town Manager Rodney C. Collins said, and due to budget scheduling, an alternative could not go into place until July 1, 2024.
John Malloy, a member of the board of directors for Save Popponesset Bay, explained a long-term plan in which the approach channel would be made longer, wider and deeper. A catch basin would also be installed adjacent to the channel to collect shifting sand before it fills the channel.
Save Popponesset Bay has been working with the Woods Hole Group on the project, Mr. Malloy said, and permits are almost ready to be issued.
