HomeMy WebLinkAbout20141030-NantCoastalConserv_ltr_re_SBPF_201410310914321531From:danneatherton@comcast.net
To:Erika Mooney
Subject:**IMPORTANT** TIME-SENSTIVE LETTER TO THE BOS MEMBERS AND THE TM FROM CONCERNED
NANTUCKET CITIZENS
Date:Thursday, October 30, 2014 5:21:34 PM
Attachments:LETTER TO GOVERNOR PATRICK.pdf
TO: ERIKA
FROM: D. ANNE
RE: ATTACHED LETTER
Attached please find a time-sensitive letter to the members of the Board of
Selectmen and the Town Manager involving the Baxter Road erosion
situation.
As you know, a decision by the State in the matter is imminent.
As indicated, the letter has also been sent to the Governor, Senator Wolf and
Representative Madden, with copies to the Secretary of EEA and the
Commissioner of DEP.
Note that the letter is NOT an electronic petition.
Please know that this group of signers is representative of our at-large
community: year-round and seasonal residents, native islanders, Nantucket
working people, caring citizens all who are extremely concerned with the
possible loss of the public beach below the bluff in Sconset.
If you would please acknowledge that our letter has been received, we would
appreciate it, Erika.
Thank you.
ATTACHMENT
info@savenantucketbeaches.org
NCC Coordinating Team
Barbara Bund
Sunny Daily
Susan McFarland
John MersonLinda Spery
Liz Trillos
Charley Walters
Mary Wawro
Peter B. Brace
Environmental Writer
Susan Landmann
Photographer
D. Anne AthertonMike Gillies
Administrative Coordinators
Nantucket Coastal Conservancy, PO Box 2050, Nantucket MA 02584 info@savenantucketbeaches.org
to preserve and protectnantucket’s natural beaches
October 30, 2014
The Honorable Deval Patrick, Governor
The Honorable Daniel A. Wolf, State Senator
The Honorable Timothy R. Madden, State Representative
Members, Nantucket Board of Selectmen
Dear Governor Patrick, Senator Wolf, Representative Madden and Members of
the Nantucket Board of Selectmen:
We, the undersigned recreational fishermen, birders, walkers and beach lovers of
Nantucket, wish to express our strong opposition to the Siasconset Beach
Preservation Fund’s (SBPF) 900-foot “emergency” geotube coastal engineering
structure installed at the base of the bluff in Siasconset.
We understand that this installation is under consideration by the Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a superseding order of
conditions that could potentially overrule the Nantucket Conservation
Commission’s June 3, 2014, denial of this project.
The fact is that hard structures such as this sea wall will obstruct access to, and
eventually destroy, the public beach in front of it. We respectfully request that the
DEP consider the needs of all users of this part of Nantucket’s eastern shore and
uphold the Conservation Commission’s denial.
Contrary to information provided by SBPF regarding the public’s lack of use of
this pristine beach, fishing — including surfcasting and saltwater fly fishing —
along this particular part of Nantucket’s coastline has a decades-old history, as
birding and walking do.
A beach’s worth shouldn’t be judged by the quantities of the users, but by the
quality of the experiences had on it by any and all users. Being able to walk
along or fish from a beach on which you’re the only one doing so, for as far as
you can see, shouldn’t be a reason to justify its loss and severely degrade the
health of the surrounding coastal environment.
The Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) shares our concern, as stated in a recent
Comment Letter to the DEP regarding the geotube sea wall:
Letter from Nantucket 2
Nantucket Coastal Conservancy, PO Box 2050, Nantucket MA 02584 info@savenantucketbeaches.org
“The existing geotube footprint restricts shoreline access for seasonal
recreational fishing activity. While apparently graded at the north and south ends
to allow access past the structure, shoreline access to this immediate section of
Siasconset Beach at high tide is limited.”
Given that this project is on town land, a legacy to the citizens of Nantucket from
the Proprietors, we urge you to do everything in your power to save our beach —
not only for us, but also for future generations of islanders and visitors.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Susanne Albright
Virginia Andrews
D. Anne R. Atherton
Burton Balkind
Ruth and Robi Blumenstein
Julia Blyth
Evelyn Smith Boeckman
Peter Boyce
Paul M. Budzynski
Barbara Bund
Anna Caspersen
Erik Caspersen
Robert J. Clawson
Jane F. Connell
Liza Stewardson Connolly
Susan Cooper Cronyn
Prof. Alfred W. Crosby
Sean and Lindsay Curry
Sunny Daily
Tristram Coffin Dammin MD
Derick, Brenda and Kelsey Denby
Nina S. Duchaine
Jennifer and Josh Eldridge
Mark Fahan
Judith C. Fine
Anne and Lucas Fischer
Ellen Flamm and Richard Peterson
Letter from Nantucket 3
Nantucket Coastal Conservancy, PO Box 2050, Nantucket MA 02584 info@savenantucketbeaches.org
Kerry Kennedy Flynn
William and Melinda Gardner
Cinda Gaynor
Isabelle Georgeaux
Samuel Golding
David Goodman
Martha A. Gray
Robert F. Greenhill
Nannette Gustafson
Margaret B. Hallowell
Janet A. Hart
Marie Gildehaus Henke
Christine Hermansdorfer
Richard and Janice Hoff
Richard and Lola Jagolta
Leslie Johnson
Rob Johnson
Dr. Frances Karttunen
Peter and Maria Kellner
Robert Landmann
Susan Landmann
Timothy Langevin
Gary Langley
The Learnard Family
Scott J. Leonard, Director of Operations, NMMCP
Captain Tobey Leske
Richard and Christine Loftin
Frances E. Long
Martin T. Long
Sandy MacDonald
Alice Reno Malone
Helen B. Manchester
Susan P. McFarland
William J. McKee, Jr.
Jack McKay
Brook P. Meerbergen
Frank Morral
Linda Morral
Letter from Nantucket 4
Nantucket Coastal Conservancy, PO Box 2050, Nantucket MA 02584 info@savenantucketbeaches.org
Peter Morrison
Elizabeth Murray
Alan and Patricia Myers
Alex Nelson-Frick
E.C. Netherthorpe
Stephen B. O’Brien
Susan M. O’Brien
Elizabeth Oldham
Nannette Orr
James Perelman
Blair Perkins
Victoria Merson Pickwick
Robert Rank
Nancy Rappaport
Edith A. Ray
Dr. Charles and Susan Rickards
Barbara and David Roby
Jane Sheets
Reema Sherry
The Reverend Linda Simmons
John P. Sjovall
Carol Spade
Craig Spery
Linda Spery
Ann Stock
Robert Stock
Catherine Flanagan Stover
Thomas C. Succop
Derek Till
Sheila F. Todd
Elizabeth Majkowski Trillos
Jose Trillos
R.D. Trudell
Elizabeth Van Brunt
Michael Van Brunt
Dirck Van Lieu
Sharon Van Lieu
Gay Vogt
Letter from Nantucket 5
Nantucket Coastal Conservancy, PO Box 2050, Nantucket MA 02584 info@savenantucketbeaches.org
Dorothy Vollans
Anthony F. Walsh, Esq.
Charles Walters
Laura Wasserman
Peter Watrous
Mary Wawro
Jean A. Webster
Karen and Richard Werner
Alice and George Wislocki
Amy Zielinski
Erik Zissu
Maria Zodda
COPY:
Secretary Maeve Vallely Bartlett, Office of Energy and Environment Affairs
Commissioner David W. Cash, Mass DEP
Mr. James Mahala, Mass DEP, Southeast Region
Ms. C. Elizabeth Gibson, Town Manager, Town of Nantucket
The public beach below the bluff in Sconset was gifted to the citizens of Nantucket by the Proprietors in the late 1880s. — With thanks to Van Lieu Photography for photo of the beach in its natural state.