With work winding down on the $5.6 million North Bluff seawall and boardwalk, Carlos Pena, project engineer from CLE Engineering, told selectmen Tuesday night that final punch-list items will be completed in August, and the new sidewalk and boardwalk lighting will be on hold until October, to avoid disruption during the busy season.
A long exchange ensued between Dr. Jason Lew, an abutter, and Mr. Pena, with Dr. Lew expressing dissatisfaction about beach access. Currently the beach is accessible by staircases at either end of the boardwalk, with no stairs at the middle of the pier at Saco Avenue, as Mr. Lew had requested repeatedly at previous meetings. Mr. Pena said the boardwalk was built with a removable rail to accommodate the additional staircase, but permitting and engineering work still needed to be done.
He said the Massachusetts Department of Fishing and Boating Access expressed concern that the staircase would induce people to use the fishing pier as a diving board, and that ultimately, the decision to build the third staircase is up to the selectmen. Chairman Gail Barmakian suggested the town investigate the feasibility of a temporary staircase for this summer. Mr. Pena segued into a PowerPoint presentation on beach nourishment plans for the North Bluff Beach and an update on the East Chop Bluff seawall. Mr. Pena said final permitting for North Bluff Beach nourishment, along with Pay Beach and Inkwell Beach, should be completed next year, with North Bluff Beach taking top priority. Depending on financing, Mr. Pena said, work could be done by 2019. He estimated the cost will be between $1.4 and $1.6 million to deposit 15,000 cubic yards of sand on the beach. The area equates to 80 feet wide, five feet deep, and 120 feet long, and is subject to the results of the final survey.
After a 20-minute delay due to a false fire alarm — a regular occurrence at the Oak Bluffs library — Mr. Pena updated selectmen on the East Chop Bluff restoration process, or lack thereof. Mr. Pena said Hurricane Sandy accelerated the pace of erosion, which has been measured every year since 2008. He said he’s initiating the permitting process so the town can move quickly when funding is obtained. He expects the project will cost $11 million to $13 million, and pending funding, could be done by 2020. Plans to buttress the crumbling corniche were underway in 2014 until the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reneged on previously awarded funding.
In other business, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services (MVCS) executive director Julie Fay began an outreach campaign to garner selectmen’s support for a possible expansion of the MVCS facilities on six abutting acres owned by the high school. Ms. Faye said the expansion would enable MVCS to provide additional services for high school students, universal pre-kindergarten, and special education programming, as well as a new superintendent’s building. Once the leaking roofs are repaired on three MVCS buildings, they could provide between 25 and 35 units of much-needed year-round rental housing for teachers, hospital personnel, and new MVCS staff. Ms. Faye said housing is a “non-ending problem” in attracting and retaining top-level talent, and a campus-like setting, which would include the YMCA and Martha’s Vineyard Ice Arena, would provide more of a social network than living in remote locations scattered across the Island. To a member, selectmen praised Ms. Faye’s work and the value of MVCS. They also said that Oak Bluffs infrastructure is already taxed to the limit, and that regional participation was essential for their endorsement.
Selectmen and the finance advisory committee (FinCom) voted on year-end transfers to settle town accounts for FY16. The big-ticket items were $43,000 in overages for police department salaries and overtime due to staffing shortages, and $42,000 for retirement benefits and health insurance for the treasurer’s office.