Board approves new Goldsmith Inlet environmental review
Southold Town commissioned another environmental impact study of the Goldsmith Inlet jetty as a decades-long fight from community members continues.
The Town Board voted during Tuesday night’s regular meeting to expend up to $31,000 from the general fund to pay for the latest environmental review. The study would update a feasibility study on changing the jetty’s configuration conducted by Offshore and Coastal Technologies, Inc. in 2006.
The former board received the results of that study in 2008. It recommended reducing the jetty by a third at a cost of an estimated $1 million. However, the board members at the time took no action.
Tuesday’s vote comes two weeks after more than a dozen residents protested the town’s delayed response to the issues facing Goldsmith Inlet. For decades, community members on both sides of the watershed have battled to protect their respective interests in relation to the inlet’s jetty.
During last month’s meeting the board expected to pay $27,000 for the study, but increased the figure to $31,000 to cover any unforeseen costs, according to Supervisor Scott Russell.
The new study would again likely be conducted by Offshore and Coastal Technologies, Mr. Russell said, although a firm has yet to be named.
He added that the board would address the matter in a timely fashion, but could not provide a timeframe on when, or if any, work would be done at Goldsmith Inlet.
