Posted on March 8, 2018
By Mary Whitfill, The Patriot Ledger
The severely eroded public beach on Glades and Surfside roads could soon get an infusion of sand, gravel and cobble brought from New Hampshire and Maine if Scituate is awarded a massive federal grant.
The nourishment project would give the Minot section of town a beach at high tide for the first time in decades.
On Tuesday, selectmen voted to seek a $15 million Army Corps of Engineers grant for replenishing a 2,800-foot stretch of public beach. Dredged material from the Piscataqua River would be transported to Scituate by barge, then deposited on the beach. The grant would also cover 65 percent of the cost of the grading that would be needed to make the material match what already exists on Minot Beach.
If the federal grant is awarded, the town will be on the hook for roughly $756,000. Town Administrator James Boudreau said the money would come from an already-approved $2 million bond for shoal work.
“We think we have a pretty good shot (at the grant) because there is only one (application) coming out of the Northeast,” said Nancy Durfee, the town’s coastal resources officer. “We have our permits ready, and that made us a desirable project to be included.”
The North Scituate beach nourishment project has been in the making for years, and permits were granted last December. So much erosion has taken place that there is no beach at high tide and the only beach access is via a steep ramp or flights of stairs with eroded steps.
The planned project would add a 50-foot-wide upland beach, making the area easier to access and functional at high tide, Durfee said.
“Not only do you get shore protection, but you get a beach, the town gets an asset out of it. It’s an unbelievable two-for-one,” Selectmen Anthony Vegnani said. “I can’t believe it’s happening. …That neighborhood is going to love it.”
Durfee said the Army Corps of Engineers hopes to dredge the Piscataqua River this fall; 240,000 cubic yards of dredged material would be brought to the North Scituate beach.
Minot Beach has worn away since a replenishing program run by the Army Corps of Engineers ended in the 1970s. Durfee said sea walls starve the beach of sediment and prevent the natural migration of sand down the coast.
Selectmen approved a $127,140 contract with Applied Coastal Research and Engineering of Mashpee in 2014 for the design work, which was funded primarily by former Gov. Deval Patrick’s Green Infrastructure for Coastal Resilience grants program.
Source: The Patriot Ledger
