
Posted on December 22, 2021
(Dec. 16, 2021) The Sconset Beach Preservation Fund has agreed to pour an estimated 20,000 cubic yards of sand onto the geotube project at the foot of the Sconset Bluff this winter, in a move they hope will be a step towards finding a way forward in the ongoing battle over that project.
They will also provide $62,000 to bring in the coastal engineering group Arcadis to consult on the efforts of the town to secure the bluff erosion while they begin a project that might eventually lead to relocating Baxter Road.
Arcadis was originally hired by the selectmen in February, at a cost of $157,978, to develop a longterm plan to protect the houses on Baxter Road from erosion. A report from the firm suggested both the relocation of Baxter Road and the use of the geotubes to protect the integrity of the bluff while the town planned the funding, negotiated easement and utility moves needed for that relocation.
The ConCom voted 6-1 in July to order the geotube project shut down for violating their terms of their permit, an element of that violation was the amount of sand being placed on the geotubes. That decision was appealed by the SBPF to superior court. No decision has yet been handed down.
The amount of sand SBPF has agreed to dump on the geotubes is not enough to make up for the deficit that is at the center of the Conservation Commission’s enforcement order, but Posner said it is meant to keep the geotubes covered for the winter.