HomeMy WebLinkAbout08122013 Coastal Management Plan Work Group Minutes
1
MINUTES: Coastal Management Plan (CMP) Work Group – August 12, 2013
PRESENT: Sarah Oktay, Carl Borchert, John Stover and Emily MacKinnon
Also Present: Dave Fronzuto, Jeff Carlson, Julia Knisel, Steve McKenna, and Margot Mansfield
Meeting called to order at 5:08 pm
Agenda: The Agenda was approved with a motion from Carl and a second from Emily.
Announcements: At the next CMP WG meeting, scheduled for August 26, 2013, Rebecca Haney of CZM will be making a
presentation on erosion control and storm damage prevention.
Minutes: The Committee decided to review and approve outstanding meeting minutes as Emily had not heard any
comments or concerns from any of the Committee members absent from the meeting. The minutes of the CMPWG
meetings on 06/10/13 and 07/08/13 were approved, with corrections to 07/08/13 minutes from Rebecca Haney, with a
motion by John and a second by Carl. Emily will have these minutes posted to the website.
Dave introduced Julia Knisel, Coastal Shoreline and Floodplain Manager, and Steve McKenna, Cape and Islands Regional
Coordinator, for MA Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) as well as Margot Mansfield who recently started a two-
year fellowship with CZM. He also introduced Jeff Carlson, Town of Nantucket Director of Natural Resources and himself,
Dave Fronzuto as Town of Nantucket Emergency Management Director.
Sarah provided a recap of the CMPWG and its charge by the Town.
Julia gave a presentation reviewing CZM’s role in addressing coastal hazards and provided an overview of coastal
management concerns and some of the challenges associated with setting coastal management policy. She reviewed
CZM’s recently updated shoreline change data and discussed hurricane inundation maps, sea level rise maps and the
StormSmart Coasts website. Julia and Steve also discussed how Brewster has successfully addressed erosion and
flooding at Paines Creek Beach by relocating parking and restoring the beach and dune.
Sarah suggested that the Town should be considering where future infrastructure should and should not be located
taking into consideration the new floodmaps. Dave responded that the Town actually has reviewed which buildings are
currently within or outside of the newly established floodplain.
Sarah reviewed the Draft Plan for Sector 2 for the public with the matrix topics and in general what the CMPWG has
been considering.
A member of the public asked how survey data relating to fisheries, erosion, or some other aspect of a project proposal
is made available to the public? Jeff mentioned that while the CMPWG was recommending it could all be accumulated
into a searchable database, it is currently accumulated through the permitting process and typically available at the Con
Com office with the project files.
Rick Atherton asked if the Plan is getting specific enough to address issues such as the Easy St bulkhead that continues to
experience damage from storm surges? Dave replied that this Plan has not been working at that level of detail.
John stated that the CMPWG has been trying to come up with more general guidelines to direct actions for different
situations.
2
John raised some concerns including the use of averages in shoreline change data…he added that storm damage occurs
not in averages but that it takes place during a storm with either a small or potentially very large impact. He said that
“Figures don’t lie, but liars figure”. Things are accelerating and curves are changing. Julia responded that using averages
is sometimes the best that can be done, but certainly when better information is available it should be used. Initially the
shoreline change project was designed to identify erosion hotspots across the state…it has had the added benefit of
informing homeowners and municipalities of long-term trends.
John added that he feels many of CZM’s programs don’t seem to be designed for Nantucket and that with all of the
nourishment requirements for coastal erosion projects the island will eventually run out of sand. Julia stated that much
of CZM’s coastal management policy is focused on “Do no harm to neighbors”…which is applicable to Nantucket. She
also agreed that eventually Nantucket may have to look off island for sediment sources. John added that he and others
may not want to look off island, but may prefer to build a revetment around the entire island and stay here.
Sarah chimed in that part of our charge is to address public access and help maintain the beaches.
John added that Nantucket only has so much sand and that nourishment will not be sustainable long term.
Sarah and Emily reiterated that we have been charged to evaluate and prioritize infrastructure protection and our
options for coastal management and erosion control.
Sarah asked Rick Atherton if the Selectmen had general thoughts on where we should be going with the plan? Rick
stated that he was mostly curious about the specificity of the plan and how many issues would be addressed?
Dave suggested that places such as Madaket Road, Hummock Pond Road and erosion at specific infrastructure could be
addressed and the Committee agreed.
Owners of a property at the end of Madaket Road expressed concern regarding erosion at the end of the road and that
the lack of action by the Town was causing a lot of accelerated damage to their adjacent property.
Sara raised a concern about providing assistance to homeowners that border public access points? Should this be within
our jurisdiction or someone else’s jurisdiction?
Rick asked if perhaps the Selectmen should consider broadening the charge of the CMPWG?
Carl reminded everyone that our charge was only to address public property and the hope was to have information and
guidance that private homeowners could also use and follow.
D.Anne stated that her understanding was that the intent of the CMP was originally to look holistically at the whole
island. The BOS narrowed that scope to only look at town property as a way to expedite the process and lift the
moratorium that was placed on coastal engineering structures. She added that she hoped CMPWG recommendations
could move toward public policy changes. She suggested that the CMPWG re-visit with the BOS and consider asking
them to broaden the scope of the plan.
Julia added that the CMPWG has been challenged with a short timeframe to address a number of issues. During the
process, the Committee may have come up with some ways that the BOS could consider working with private
homeowners and these could be outlined as recommendations going forward.
3
John suggested that the Plan should really be more broadly applicable across the island. He suggested the CMPWG
develop a status report and go to the BOS asking them to address some of these issues.
Carl added that the Moratorium which was seemingly the reason to expedite this process is less of an issue after the
BOS signed the MOU and SBPF has presented their legal case for an “emergency”. He agreed that CMP should consider if
the charge of the WG should be expanded or modified?
The Public and the Committee discussed the erosion at the end of Madaket Road further until a potential solution of
closing Madaket Road at Ames Ave and directing the public down Chicago Street was suggested. Steve and Julia
contributed that controlling beach access in direct consultation with neighbors at this location and redirecting the public
may be a solution.
D. Anne asked Julia and Steve to comment on statements she has heard that revetments are the “most common and
effective methods of erosion control”. Julia stated that revetments are typically used to shore up failing seawalls, but are
rarely selected for an area initially as the best approach because of impacts to beaches and adjacent properties.
The next CMPWG meeting will be held Monday, August 26 at 5pm at 4 Fairground Road in the Training Room. The
Committee will discuss a ranking system for erosion control methods as well as revisit Rebecca Haney’s presentation
on erosion control methods.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:46pm with a motion from John and a second from Carl.
Respectfully submitted,
Emily MacKinnon