Posted on June 25, 2019
The Bourne Conservation Commission after a 90-minute standing room only hearing on Thursday night at Town Hall unanimously approved a comprehensive dredging/disposal permit that will expedite and guide preparation for channel improvement projects across the next decade.
The approval includes myriad local conditions as well as those demanded by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and Massachusetts Natural Heritage Agency.
BSC Group representatives from West Yarmouth said state and federal permits must also be secured before any future dredge projects are approved.
The permit is yet another indication that Bourne is becoming an increasingly popular boating community. Slips in town marinas were at a premium this year.
The next dredge project involves clearing the Pocasset River channel of silt and also dredging the Little Bay approach to the Toby Island Bridge.
The river muck will be removed to the landfill off MacArthur Boulevard for use as cover in the daily disposal of trash. The bay sediment will be piped to a dewatering repository on Monument Beach. Permits are in place for this project, set to be carried out in late autumn or early winter.
River residents will be notified by Harbormaster Chris Southwood to remove seasonal floats and docks as well as other structures that would serve as dredging impediments.
Some 638 residents were officially notified of the comprehensive permit hearing. More than 40 attended the session, where there was general support overall for the permit.
Questions, however, were lodged about where dredged sediment would be placed, whether the material would be suitable for placement, which area of town would hold the top dredging priority and whether areas such as Squeteague Harbor Beach really need periodic renourishment.
Thirteen dredge sites are listed in the permit, five of which are already permitted. Some have recently been dredged under current permits.
Commission Chairman Robert Gray said the comprehensive permit “simplifies” dredging permitting and keeping track of the appropriate paperwork.
“Other towns are going this route, and it appears this is fine for the environment,” he said.
The permit does not eliminate the need to notify residents when dredging comes to their bays, coves, narrows or river.
Any upcoming decision to dredge necessitates shellfish and eelgrass surveys of affected areas, a DMF inspection of conditions, review by Southwood and the shore and harbor committee, as well as notification to selectmen and a request for Barnstable County dredge services.
The permit is broken down into phases. The phases, however, do not denote priorities or actual timelines.
The first phase includes Buttermilk and Little Buttermilk Bays, the Cohasset Narrows and the Gibbs Narrows in Head of the Bay.
The second phase involves Phinneys Harbor, Little Bay and the Pocasset River. The third phase includes Pocasset Harbor, Barlows Landing, Hen and Hospital Coves and Red Brook Harbor.
Conservation Agent Sam Haines told the group the comprehensive permit would help Southwood and Engineering Technician Tim Lydon respond to any critical dredging need necessitated by storm action.
Haines said the Pocasset River and Little Bay are the next dredging projects, but he also said Gray Gables Cove needs attention. He said the cove presents somewhat of an issue because eel grass beds have returned to the area and would need to be surveyed each year by Southwood as to their location adjacent to dredging.
Haines said eelgrass represents restored water quality but can hinder dredging planning.
One resident asked why dredged sediment could not be placed on private properties in need of fill to combat continual erosion. Haines said dredging remains a town project in conjunction with a regional government dredge. As such, the material must be deposited on a public tract.
Haines accented a point that only as a last resort would Pocasset River dredge sediment be placed on the Shore Road tract north of the so-called Singing Bridge, where a small recreation/picnicking area is planned next spring.
Source: bourne.wickedlocal.com
