Posted on July 25, 2016
sTwo projects that could help protect Smith Island from the ravages of nature – particularly on the vulnerable west side — are about to get underway in the offshore watermen’s community in Somerset County.
A $2.4 million contract for a shoreline stabilization project at Rhodes Point was recently awarded to Coastal Design and Construction Inc. of Gloucester, Va., which performed similar work at Martin National Wildlife Refuge on an uninhabited part of the island.
“This shoreline project is like a dream come true for all of us,” said Eddie Somers, president of Smith Island United which worked with the state and county to write a Smith Island Vision Plan.
The work will protect the village of Rhodes Point on the west-facing side of the island which routinely takes a beating from storms along the Chesapeake Bay and where the worst erosion takes place. The recent work at the wildlife refuge to repair breaks in the shoreline will help protect the village of Ewell, Somers said.
The county had set aside some of its federal Hurricane Sandy recovery funds to pay for the project on the strip of land that separates and protects Rhodes Point from the open Chesapeake Bay, said Gary Pusey, the county’s planning director.
The county also plans to chip in $1.6 million as its share of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project for a jetty near the stabilized shoreline. The Corps will know this fall if funds are available. If not, the county will put its share into more stabilization work.
Pusey said he will get an update on the proposed jetty during a conference call with Corps of Engineers officials on July 25.
The county also started advertising this week for proposals for a drainage study of the island that will be funded by a Maryland Department of Natural Resources grant.
Flooding on the island was raised as a concern of residents from the three island villages, Ewell, Rhodes Point and Tylerton, who were asked to take part in a survey and then attend a series of community meetings to give input for the vision plan.
The plan, which got final approval from Somerset County Commissioners in late May, lays out goals for the island, including improving shoreline protection efforts.
Source: delmarvanow
