Erosion Projects - Updates

Davis Park - Beach Sand Update & News

To: Community Members: Subject: DPA: Tax Materials for the Homeowners Meeting (Sept. 22, 2012 11AM at the Church) Davis Park Tax Payers The following is information detailing income and expenditures for the Davis Park Erosion Control District (ECD) from 2007-2012, including the 2008/9 nourishment project. It also projects ECD expenses and taxes including anticipated costs for the FEMA repair project slated for 2013-2014. ECD taxes are projected to fall by 54% in 2013 and 2014 to $275,000 each year. Davis Park Erosion Control District Summary, Year-end 2012 Year We are happy to say that past DPA estimates for paying off the project were accurate. The DPA Board engaged an accountant to assist in obtaining and analyzing financial information provided by the Town regarding our ECD and nourishment project. The Town’s calculations are shown as pages 1 and 2 of the packet [ PDF LINK ] . Page 1: Operating Fund – Fund Balance Analysis This page details revenues and expenditures for our ECD Operating Fund from January 1, 2007 through estimated year-end 2012. A significant balance of $756,418 is budgeted to remain; we believe the actual balance will be about $792,000 due to lower than expected spending in 2012. These funds will be available to pay toward the final two years of bond repayment (bonding took place in 2010 and the fifth and final payment is due in 2014). We had a $243,000 balance in reserve in our ECD at the start of 2007, and assuring an adequate reserve is part of our planning going forward. Page 2: Capital Account Analysis 2009-2012 This page details the Capital Account from its creation in 2009 to year-end 2012 showing Sources and Uses of Funds. The account was created by the Town to capture bond proceeds and capital costs associated with the nourishment project. At year-end 2012, this account is also projected to have a significant estimated balance of $505,469. Page 3: Projected ECD Taxes 2015 - 2020 Beyond 2014, we will continue to have ongoing erosion control costs (fencing, grass, monitoring) which we estimate at about $70,000 per year. If we do bond for the FEMA repair project, we would then begin paying off our 12.5% of costs. As an example, for a $3.3 million project, Davis Park’s 12.5% portion of the total cost would be about $400,000 (including interest), to be bonded and paid over 5 years or about $80,000 per year. Any amounts later reimbursed by FEMA for project start-up costs could be used to reduce taxes in years beyond 2014. All of these amounts are projections, of course; the level of ECD taxation is reevaluated each year. Some Questions 1. Why would we continue to pay more than $55,000 per year in ECD taxes after 2013? ECD taxes will probably never return to $55,000 because the cost of beach grass, fencing, and scraping has risen since 2006. However, for a lower level of taxation than we have had in 5 years, we are able to assure a 20-year EIS and put ourselves in a position to participate in the FEMA repair project. And we should recover most of our investment through FEMA reimbursement. Essentially, we would be paying 12.5 cents on the dollar for the repair project. 2. Why would we want to be part of the FEMA repair project? It will be another huge nourishment project on Fire Island, involving 12 or 13 communities and costing $25 million. If we are able to participate, the project would build our beach and dunes back to where they were immediately after our nourishment project and provide the sand we could not place on the eastern end of our community in 2009 due to mechanical breakdowns and the approach of plover season. But the cost would be far less than last time since we are an “engineered beach,” with FEMA paying 87.5% of repair costs. 3. Will there be a petition or voting process before the start of the repair project? There will be a public process before bonding for the repair project, and all participating Brookhaven communities will be approving bonds at the same time.
To: Community Members: Subject: Finishing of Beach Sand Nourishment Project Sunday March 29, 2009 Click image right to view larger size images The images at right ... Top to Bottom: Here are pictures from 8:30am Sunday, March 29, from Whalebone Thanks to Mary Parker, who provided the pictures
To: Community Members: Subject: Sand onto beach at Davis Park ... Images from Beach Sand Nourishment Project Wednesday March 25, 2009 Click image right to view larger size images of the beach nourishment project. The images at right ... Top to Bottom: Yard of the second dune house in the Ridge Work at Windward Walk, view west Work at Windward Walk, view west Thanks to Mary Parker, who provided the pictures
To: Community Members: Subject: Sand onto beach at Davis Park ... Images from Beach Sand Nourishment Project Tuesday March 24, 2009 Click image right to view larger size images of the beach nourishment project. The images at right ... Top to Bottom: The project turns east Looking east over completed section Efforts turn to the east View at the Casino "cut" View from First Dune House in Ocean Ridge Thanks to Mary Parker, who provided the pictures
To: Community Members: Subject: Sand onto beach at Davis Park ... Images from Beach Sand Nourishment Project Sunday March 22 & Monday March 23, 2009 Click image right to view larger size images of the beach nourishment project. The images at right ... Top to Bottom: March 22 - First Walk view West March 22 - Second Walk view East March 23 - Third Walk view East March 23 - Third Walk view West March 23 - Fifth Walk view East March 23 - Fifth Walk view West Thanks to Mary Parker, who provided the pictures
To: Community Members: Subject: Sand onto beach at Davis Park ... Images from Beach Sand Nourishment Project Sunday March 22, 2009 Click image right to view larger size images The images at right are from: March 21 Beach Plum viewed from Peppridge walk March 22 Peppridge walk view West March 22 First Walk, which was the leading edge of project Thanks to Mary Parker, who provided the pictures
To: Community Members: Subject: Sand onto beach at Davis Park ... Images from Beach Sand Nourishment Project Friday March 20, 2009 Click image right to view larger size images of the beach nourishment project. The images at right are from Davis Park on Friday March 20th at 12:45pm taken from the dune house deck on the east side of Donella Walk 2nd dredge will be coming to Davis Park March 20th for 4-5 days Thanks to Mary Parker, who provided the pictures
To: Community Members: Subject: Sand onto beach at Davis Park ... Images from Beach Sand Nourishment Project Sunday March 15, 2009 Click image right to view larger size images of the beach nourishment project. The images at right are from Davis Park on Sunday March 15th
To: Community Members: Subject: Pipes at Davis Park ... Images from Beach Sand Nourishment Project Friday March 13, 2009 Click image right to view larger size images of the beach nourishment project. These images are from Davis Park on Friday March 13th
To: Community Members: Subject: Images from Beach Sand Nourishment Project February 20, 2009 Click image right to view larger size images of the beach nourishment project. These images are from Fair Harbour. The Pines section begin next week. Davis Park after the Pines.
To: Community Members: Subject: Beach Sand Nourishment Project Status: Dredging has begun! Date: January 29, 2009 The DPA Board is happy to report that dredging work has begun on the Fire Island-wide beach nourishment project. Weeks Marine, Inc. began pumping sand onto the beach at the Fair Harbor / Saltaire border on Tuesday January 27, 2009. Pumping will continue 24 hours a day, seven days a week unless shutdown for emergency weather conditions, until the projects in all communities are completed. The photo (see photo link below) shows the dredge at Fair Harbor / Saltaire close to shore dropping its hopper-load of sand through the pipeline for placement on the beach. The actual dredging takes place about 1-1 1/2 miles out to sea where the hopper is loaded. [ Photo Link: www.davispark.org/FI-Dredge0109.jpg ] The Fire Island beach nourishment project began somewhat later than expected as the dredges were delayed in transit to Fire Island by inclement weather. Even with the later start, however, the contractor expects to complete all work within the timeframe previously communicated. As you know, Davis Park / Ocean Ridge is scheduled for sand placement between mid-March and the end of March 2009. We will continue to work with the contractor to try to improve this timeframe for our community. The DPA Board remains vigilant in its efforts to assure on-time completion of the Davis Park / Ocean Ridge project. We will send updates as new information becomes available.
To: Community Members: Subject: Beach Sand Nourishment Project Date: November 30, 2008 [ The following is an edited version of letter sent to Suffolk County News, Long Island Advance, Islip Bulletin to address and correct errors in article of November 27, 2008 "Restoration, then reimbursement, Fire Is. beaches"   Page 3 & 6 -http://www.suffolkcountynews.net/uploaded/SCN%2011-27-08.pdf ]   SUB: Beach Sand Nourishment of Fire Island Beaches 2008-2009 The entire beach sand nourishment project encompasses Fire Island communities in both Islip and Brookhaven Towns and includes the two incorporated villages on Fire Island, Ocean Beach and Saltaire. The other communities, but not incorporated are, Ocean Bay Park, Fire Island Pines and Davis Park bringing the total to 11 communities covering 25,326 feet or 4.8 miles of the approximate 32 mile long island. It is important to note that there are only about six miles of privately held-owned land on the island (Fire Island) that is predominantly covered by the Fire Island National Seashore, with Robert Moses State Park at the western end and Smith Point County Park on the eastern end. The County Park, with recent sand losses, is moving forward with a similar beach restoration project this fall. The total cost for the restoration project in the 11 communities is $22,737,520. FEMA will be supplying $3,302,175 for mobilization costs, based on storm losses in communities during the April 2007 declared nor-east storm.  Fire Island communities will initially spend the money and then seek the FEMA reimbursement of $3,302,175. While all homeowners of the 11 communities are grateful for FEMA’s contribution, the homeowners via the Erosion Control Districts created by them in each community will be taxing themselves $19,435,345 over the next few years to pay for the beach sand nourishment project. This is ground breaking territory for the Towns of Islip and Brookhaven who have worked with the two villages in a multi-community project that will enable all to replenish their beaches at costs less than if working on an individual basis.  In the early 1960’s Congress appropriated funds for the Army Corps of Engineers to formulate a hurricane/ storm protection plan for the south shore of Long Island. Four years later on 9-11-1964 Congress created the Fire Island National Seashore.  Public law 88-587 88th Congress September 11, 1964 Establishing Fire Island National Seashore. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) for the purpose of conserving and preserving for the use of future generations certain relatively unspoiled and undeveloped beaches, dunes, and other natural resources within Suffolk County, New York, which possess high values to the Nation as examples of unspoiled areas of great natural beauty in close proximity to large concentrations of urban population, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to establish an area known as the “Fire Island National Seashore”. SECTION 8 (a) The authority of the Chief of Engineers, Department of the Army, to undertake or contribute to shore erosion control or beach protection measures on lands within the Fire Island National Seashore shall be exercised in accordance with a plan that is mutually acceptable to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Army and that is consistent with the purposes of this act.    (Read conserve and preserve) The current 22 million dollar “Restoration” project is the 11 communities expressing their frustration at the 44 years of indecision between the two federal agencies who have not been able to come up with a mutually agreed upon plan asked for by Congress in 1964. We are tired of the indecision and have agreed to tax ourselves 19 million dollars to improve our communities, widen our beaches, and hopefully preserve Fire Island for the next generations. As a barrier Island, we also protect the south shore communities on Long Island, where many of us live and work when not at Fire Island. The definition of conserving and preserving in our dictionary does not include allowing the unique natural resource of Fire Island to erode for the past 44 years while other beaches along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are maintained, restored, and improved for all to enjoy and in many cases with federal and state resources.   In conclusion, the communities are attempting to preserve homes and a way of life on the Island until the plan originally authorized in 1960 comes to a conclusion in the next few years. The Army Corps of Engineers is completing a 25 million dollar study and draft proposal to protect the south shore of Long Island from Montauk Point to Fire Island Inlet. That plan includes at least 10,000 homes and associated infrastructure determined to be in possible harms way on the north side of the numerous bays along the south shore as well as the approximate 3,900 buildings on Fire Island. Currently our congressional delegation is prompting a timely completion of the Corps plan, and our state, county and local representatives are working at those political levels to ensure our south shore does not end up as the next New Orleans or Galveston. We on Fire Island applaud their efforts and thank them for helping preserve this wonderful recreational resource. - John Lund, The Davis Park Association
August 2008 There are two beach sand projects in question -- The 2008 nourishment project and the FIMP project, which might have a chance for 2010-2011 2008 Nourishment   Eleven communities are seeking sand to be placed with community money. (In our case with the Town investing 20%) NYSDEC permits are in place and Seashore, Corps permits are pending. These projects are expected to go out for bid by late September 2008, with potential commencement in November 2008. This would give us new status as an "engineered beach" and not just our west end. That would mean, in a "declared disaster" situation, we would be eligible for federal, and possibly state aid.   Our beach has built up somewhat from early July, and this project would add four vertical feet of sand on top of what we have, and repair dunes to 15 feet overall. . The Seashore wants to make this the last ever community project, and that would be a problem if it sticks. Representatives Schumer & Bishop support our views. With both ends of our community having healthy "points", such a project should last better than other locations. Real estate values should rise overall.  FIMP Project [ Maybe 2010-2011 ] All Fire Island (FI) communities (17) have worked for years -- since 1960 -- to get action on this plan. It is known that the National Seashore (FINS), New York State Department of State (NYSDOS), and such as The Nature Conservancy have been blocking this from happening, and they are winning that tussle right now. Some of us have composed a "Declaration of Individual Owner Rights..." which John Lund mentioned in his memo (8/20/2008). It appeared in the Aug. 15 issue of F I Tide (pg. 42), and is downloadable [ here ] if you wish to access it. (1,600 word)   We need more continuing help from our citizens to give views on sand nourishment to protect our investments long-term to such as Schumer, Bishop, and Governor Paterson.   - Bob Spencer, The Davis Park Association
March 2008 To: Community Members: Subject: Scoping Meeting for 2008 Nourishment Project There will be another scoping meeting outlining plans for the Fire Island nourishment projects scheduled to take place this fall. WHEN: Tuesday, March 18th 7:00PM WHERE: Town Hall of Brookhaven (Farmingville, NY) There will be a three-part presentation outlining County plans centered around the eastern end of Fire Island and Moriches Inlet as their sand source, the community plans running from Davis Park to Fair Harbor and including about 9-10 of the Fire Island’s communities, with sand sourcing from the Atlantic Ocean in multiply locations, and an overview and comments from FINS. We have been told there will be groups representing the environmental community who wish to comment of the projects (that could not be at the last meeting). It is a guess at this time to the content of their statements, but in the past they have usually conveyed a do-nothing stance or were absolutely against projects. The Fire Island National Seashore was created on Sept 11, 1964 with the inclusion of the statement in section 8a that states, "The authority of the Chief of Engineers, Department of the Army, to undertake or contribute to shore erosion control or beach protection measures on lands within the Fire Island National seashore shall be exercised in accordance with a plan that is mutually acceptable to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Army and that is consistent with the purposes of this act." The purpose of the act is "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) for the purpose of conserving and preserving for the use of future generations certain relatively unspoiled and undeveloped beaches, dunes, and other natural resources within Suffolk County, New York, which possess high values to the Nation as examples of unspoiled areas of great natural beauty in close proximity to large concentrations of urban population, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to establish an area known as the "Fire Island National Seashore - FINS". Obviously it was the intention of the authors to PROTECT and PRESERVE the Island, but they forgot to state when that action should take place. The two agencies of the federal government have not gotten around to formulating a "mutually acceptable" plan after 44 years. We the owners of eroding properties on the Island have endured the environmental debates over do-nothing or absolutely-nothing for those 44 years. We now have been forced to pay for local community projects ourselves that other beaches are getting with our tax dollars via federally approved projects. We need this project along the Fire Island communities to bridge us to what we still hope is our turn at bat with the federally approved CORPS project in the future. We ask that you PLEASE attend this meeting at 7:00 PM on Tuesday March 18th at the Town of Brookhaven Hall in Farmingville and meet the opponents of your Fire Island dream. Thank you, - The Davis Park Association
February 2008 To: Community Members: The following postings contain ... 1. Text re-cap [PDF document] of a technical meeting with FINS and other agencies on 2008 Fire Island Nourishment Projects, held February 14, 2008.     2. Slides presented by Steve Keehn from Coastal Planning & Engineering Inc. (CP&E) at that meeting. Large Size PDF File: Please Right Click Image and "Save Target As" to your computer 3. Slides regarding specifics for the Davis Park Nourishment Project. Large Size PDF File: Please Right Click Image and "Save Target As" to your computer On Tuesday, March 18th 2008, another public scoping meeting will be held (Brookhaven Town Hall, One Independence Hill, Farmingville, NY 11738, 7:00--9:30pm) on Fire Island nourishment projects scheduled for fall 2008. Part of the meeting will be about a planned project for Smith Point-Moriches, and part will address the combined nourishment project for Fire Island communities. Community members planning to attend should review the materials on the website and get any questions to the DPA Board before the meeting so we can all be prepared for this next phase of planning. For Davis Park, the most important issues still to be finalized are: 1. Steve Keehn and CP&E are looking for more flexibility in placing sand than the FINS template allowed in the past. In particular, they want to exceed the template in certain places to fill erosion “hot spots” and build a better engineered beach that will last more evenly. 2. CP&E proposes to taper sand placement at the ends of the community over about 500 feet, including tapering onto FINS land east of Whalebone. Our tax dollars will pay for this project. Let’s be sure FINS and the other agencies know our wishes as they set limits on how the project can be done. - John Lund, The Davis Park Association Erosion Control Committee: Bob Spencer Mary Parker Jim Behrendt
October 2007 Davis Park 2008 Nourishment Project - Information Package (4MB): Information Packet  This package includes the most current information on the 2008 project. It was prepared for the Town to use at the November 8th 2007 meeting.   DAVIS PARK 2008 BEACH NOURISHMENT PROJECT TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN, NEW YORK November 2007 PROJECT DESCRIPTION Davis Park has 4,139 feet of shoreline that needs initial beach nourishment to address a severe erosional hot spot located along much of its ocean frontage. The nourishment project extends from 110 feet west of 5th Walk in the west to Whalebone Walk in the east and includes 500 foot tapers on either side of these community limits, extending onto the adjacent properties. The primary goal of the design is to restore the beach and dune system throughout the community, while adhering to the 2003 National Park Service (NPS) Environmental Assessment (FINS) Template to the maximum extent feasible. The proposed plan would widen the beach by approximately 66 feet on average, re-establish the primary dunes to protect the houses, harbor and lowlands. The project will place approximately 305,000 cubic yards of sand, restoring the beach and dune to at their historic condition. The sand will be dredged from Borrow Area 2-East, shown in Figure 1 (see PDF). The project cost will include engineering and environmental services needed to design, permit and construct the project. The dune vegetation and sand fencing will extend the length of the community and cover approximately 2 acres of dunes. The project profile (FINS template) has a dune height of 16.5 ft NGVD, a dune crest width of 30 ft at the historic dune location with 1V:4H slopes on the front of the dune, a berm height of 9 ft NGVD and berm width of 100 ft with 1V:15H slope down to the water line, with some modification made for the community to increase project performance and durability. The design considers historic background erosion rates, diffusion, natural beach and dune slopes, and sand grain size. The project tapers will conserve sand within the project area. The project includes 5 years of environmental monitoring, which will be required by the permits. The fill distribution is at least 50 cy/lf at all locations in the community with extra sand placed in the hot spot region to address its’ high erosion rates, larger dune restoration and steeper nearshore slopes. The total project cost estimate for that described above is $3.68 million, which includes a construction contingency of 20%. The existing conditions according to the June 2007 survey with the proposed extensions are summarized in Table 1 (see PDF).
December 2007   Subject: MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE DPA BOARD Community members, Most of you should have received your Brookhaven 2008 tax bills by now and may have a question or two about them. First, for those who don't know the Town has approved the proposed nourishment project for 2008. There are now 7-8 communities participating, in addition to Suffolk County with proposed projects involving parks on both sides of the Moriches Inlet. Smith Point on the west side of Moriches is our eastern neighbor about seven miles away. Currently most view the number of participants as being positive in a dollar sense as well as in their ability to work together with the multiple agencies to get the job done in a timely manner. Second, the August 31, 2007 cover letter that was sent to you, this past August, regarding the proposed nourishment project for 2008.
August 2007 Dear Friends and Neighbors: Below is information on the proposed 2008 beach nourishment project for Davis Park and Ocean Ridge. Cover Letter Information Packet (Beach Nourishment Project 2008) Petition Document Instructions for Completing and Returning Petition Included above is the legally required Petition to increase the Davis Park Beach Erosion Control District (ECD) taxes to a maximum of $600,000 per year for no more than 6 years to pay for the project Also included are instructions for completing the Petition. The Petition must be approved by property owners representing at least one-half of the assessed valuation of all of the taxable real property in the community. If you are in favor of the project, follow the below instructions and return the completed, notarized Petition to tax consultant John Briggs. The Town of Brookhaven will certify whether the necessary percentages have been met.
LETTER: http://www.davispark.org/DPADraftCoverLtrPetitionR4.pdf  The second page of the letter outlines what we had hoped to accomplish when the community passed the petition process and the Town approved the expenditures. It outlines what we expected to appear on the tax bills this year and for the next 5. It states we wanted a tax levy of $500,000 this year (2008 tax yr) and that number appears as the third to last number on your bill under the District Tax Amount column (third from left). It also states we expected a tax rate of $59.36 per $100 assessed value to generate the $500,000. That number appears on your tax bill three columns to the right of the $500,000. The Town is adding a more refined number as $59.356, carrying it to the next decimal.  I think that the DPA, working with the Town, has demonstrated they wanted to be as accurate as possible last August and the numbers on the bill are proof of that. Third, the 2-6 year taxes are based on the CURRENT estimate and may change. 99% of those involved believe the estimate will be reduced, but only time will tell as we move to complete the project in October of 2008. You may remember we chose this 6 year payback program to save us an even larger tax increase if we had completed the project as the other communities are doing and pay the cost and interest over a five year period required under bonding procedures for sand nourishment.  Our method is saving us between 70 and 80 thousand dollars in interest and allows for a lower rate per year than we would have had that toped out in the $80 per $100 assessed range. We are confident we can achieve the nourishment projects sand requirements within the budget, and keep the taxes to less than what we projected.  The sand currently being moved to Davis Park now has NOTHING to do with your tax bill. That sand is being funded by FEMA and SEMO and paid for with monies generated via federal and state funds. Last week I was told that about 20% of the sand had been transported to Davis Park and that minimal amounts have been moved to the beach. The storm (LINK: http://www.davispark.org/Nor1207.shtml) as reported to me, did move sand off our beach. We had built up a nice berm near the surf area and the areas with the piles and tires had most of the tires pretty much covered. The storm moved much of that away as well as some of the sand placed on the beach. The area of damage seems to be moving to the west. I am told that Pepperidge to Fifth Walks saw the most sand lost and stairs damaged or lost from First to Fifth. The storm was short lived and we saw the winds move to the west and blow hard for two days. The sand lost must be in the surf area and we can only hope favorable winds rebuild that berm. It is expected that the construction team will be working on this project for months. We may have more specific sand quantities next week. Thanks to Stan Livingston and www.lejabeach.com you can see pictures of the storm damage. The picture of the Spencer house shows the transported sand behind (north) of it, and more can be seen in some of the others. Land Use has also sent some along and I'll try to get them to the davispark.org site for those interested [ LINK: http://www.davispark.org/Nor1207.shtml ]
August 2007    August 2007 Davis Park Beach Erosion Control District - DPBECD The DPBECD has just finished monitoring the beach twice (June 26 and July 20) in our Ocean Ridge section seeking to scrape if we met criteria, which we did not. Criteria -- a 100 foot (NS) dry sand strip must be, in its entirety, at 7 feet above mean sea level (MSL) to scrape off a 60 foot strip of it to a depth of one foot. This yields 60 cubic feet or 2.2 cubic yards for each lateral foot (EW) to take to the dune. All scraping must be done before Aug. 15th of any year. We well know that scraping sand off the beach into the dune toe works to build the dunes. After the '95-'96 debacle in our Ocean Ridge area, (as well as the current western "damage zone") the Ocean Ridge beaches mended their width and built up a beach level (berm) well enough to allow us to scrape 2.2 cubic yards per lateral foot to the dunes. But, these are not easy criteria to reach. We thought we might reach them last year in the western part of the community, but we always came up short on an overall even berm height of at least 7 feet above MSL. The same has happened this year in the Ridge area even where the beaches appear very healthy and wide. The problem is that the "berm crest" near the surf line reaches 7 feet in many areas, but the swale north of it does not. Here are the Ocean Ridge measurements for 2007 »  Casino June 26  140' beach width -- berm crest 6' +, swale at 5.8 feet+ July 20     95' beach width -- berm crest 7'+, swale at 6' + » near DPMA  June 26 135' beach width -- berm crest 6'+, swale at 6'+ July 20    90' beach width -- berm crest 7'+, swale 6.6'+ » near Chinitz June 26  120' beach width -- berm crest 6.6'+, swale at 7'+ July 20     95' beach width -- berm crest 7'+, swale at 6.6'+ » near Hirschfield June 26 145' beach width -- berm crest 7'+, swale at 5'+ July 20  145' beach width -- berm crest 7'+, swale 5.6'+ » near Whalebone June 26  180' beach width -- berm crest 6'+, swale 6'+ July 20   140' beach width -- berm crest 7'+, swale 6'+ What has to happen for this to change is for offshore storms -- at the right tidal moments to flood sand OVER the berm crest near the ocean and fill in the broad berm of the beach. It is difficult as we can see. Any northeast to southeast winds can erode sand instead. We even have placed monitoring stations now at every 250 feet, so that we might better be able to scrape on shorter stretches of beach that meet the criteria. We should also understand that the Seashore is not fond of scraping, but tolerates it for the moment. The DEC, having worked out the criteria together with the Fire Island Association and FINS many years ago, likes scraping pretty well if it meets the criteria. They solidly oppose stretching those criteria. It is known -- in some parts of the US -- away from National Seashores -- that there are emergency uses of "low tide scraping," which we tried to get approved for the damage zone in our west end this year, without success. The main reason that we came to have DEC and FINS come around to allow imported sand (by barge and truck) to be used is that both DEC and FINS see this as ADDING sand nourishment and not just moving it around as in scraping. It's one heck of a lot more expensive to barge in sand, and the weather may interfere, but this is the more possible future of what we can do. (This is why we are setting up a long-term BITS Fund to do periodic nourishment projects when erosion hot spots occur.) One last note is that the beach from Watch Hill to Whalebone Walk looks very healthy right now and seems to be slowly working its way west. It could mean that we can look forward to some years of more scraping opportunities. But -- right now -- we are very vulnerable to any major storm disaster and will remain so, especially from Trustees Walk westward this winter, even with an application of 23,500 cubic yards of emergency sand to be barged in should the Town and FEMA-SEMO be able to get the very final approvals. Just note that a scrape for the entire community would be expected to move (only) about 8,000 Cubic Yards over 4,000 lateral feet. While the 23,500 CY (maybe half of what was lost in April) would only be applied to half that lateral footage, it could be equal to five or six scrapes, as nourishment added towards the dune toe. (Compare that to a possible 300,000 CY+ that could be brought in on the entire community beach front in autumn 2008.) The DPA directors are trying our best to deal with this vexing problem. Bob Spencer - Representing the DPBECD (Davis Park Beach Erosion Control District of the Town) Erosion-Control Structures Barrier islands and all beaches are highly fluid and nonpermanent in terms of location. They move all the time. Shorelines are the most dynamic, most changeable real estate in the world. Groins One type of structure for erosion control is the groin. Groins are walls placed perpendicular to the shoreline for the purpose of catching sediment to build up a beach. They often are constructed in groups, with the intention that each will trap some of the material being transported by the longshore current. However, while deposition may occur in the updrift direction, even more erosion will occur in the downdrift direction. Jetties Like groins, jetties are placed at a right angle (perpendicular) to shore, but at harbor or inlet mouths in pairs. Their purpose is to prevent the mouths from filling up with sediment or eroding away due to waves and currents. This helps to stabilize channels, but jetties block the longshore transport of sediment, causing updrift beaches to widen, and downdrift beaches to erode. Eventually deposition at jetties may fill the channel anyway, and dredging or scooping out the material is only a temporary solution. Breakwaters Breakwaters are walls constructed at some distance from and parallel to the coastline in an effort to break waves and reduce the effects of their force on the beach. Because the waves are not reaching the shore, the longshore current is halted and material accumulates, widening the beach. Dredging is sometimes necessary when too much sediment piles up behind a breakwater at the mouth of a harbor, and as with groins and jetties, erosion often takes place downdrift of the structure. Seawalls Seawalls are breakwaters constructed up against and parallel to the shore, again as a way to break the force of waves. While seawalls can protect the backshore, they, as well as breakwaters, are subject to failure due to scour, or undercutting by waves. Drawbacks of Structures Although all hard structures have relatively modest maintenance costs under optimum conditions, they are complex and expensive to build, and they rarely function as intended. They interfere with the natural, active littoral transport system and more often than not cause unintended, undesirable erosion and deposition.  Nonstructural Alternatives Aside from structures such as groins, jetties, and seawalls, alternate methods of dealing with erosion can be employed. In a method known as beach nourishment or replenishment, sediment is dredged from offshore or brought in from another location and placed on a beach reduced by erosion. The additional measures of burying dead trees within dunes or planting other vegetation to hold sand in place help in constructing a positive beach budget; that is, so more material is gained or held in place rather than eroded and carried away. This helps to provide protection against erosion and has the added benefit of creating a larger recreational beach. [Source: www.waterencyclopedia.com ]
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