Government

Town Board supports continued efforts to replenish beach

Southold Town Beach

With warmer weather approaching, Southold Town officials are looking to build up Town Beach, which experienced particularly significant erosion this year.

It cost the town $48,000 to replenish the beach in 2011, and although it isn’t in need of a plan that costly, there’s “quite a bit of devastation,” Southold Town public works director Jeff Standish said at Tuesday’s Town Board work session. He said he budgets $5,000 annually to push the sand in order to protect the beach and is concerned that won’t be enough money for efforts to fill the site this year.

“This winter took a toll on Town Beach,” Mr. Standish said. “We’re about five feet from the parking lot.”

Mr. Standish said the town can save money on the project since Cross Sound Ferry terminal manager Andy Binkowski has offered to let it use as much sand as it needs from Orient Point for no cost. However, moving the sand to Town Beach would cost $1,300 per truck per day, he said.

The engineering department will apply for an emergency permit to start work right away, Mr. Standish said.

“The issue is do we want a beach or not, do we want to continue to restore a beach, or do we want to say just let nature do what it’s gonna do and eventually give up the Town Beach,” Southold Supervisor Scott Russell said. “It’s that simple.”

The board expressed support for continued efforts to replenish the beach.

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Photo: Southold Town Beach on Route 48. (Credit: Kelly Zegers)