Efforts to ease the Island’s housing crunch, funding for repairs to South Beach and potential borrowing to shore up aging septic pipes will all be put before Edgartown voters at town meeting next week.
The road along South Beach initially closed in December, when a sinkhole opened up during the first of a trio of storms. A culvert in the area failed during a second storm, causing even further damage.
Workers have already begun forming new dunes on South Beach’s Left Fork, using dredged sand from Katama Bay and Herring Creek. Both water bodies had filled with sand after December and January’s storms.
Edgartown officials recently met with the state and federal government to survey the damage at South Beach and Norton Point. Though emergency aid is in limbo, work has already begun.
The state Department of Environmental Protection Monday granted Edgartown emergency authorization to dredge Katama Bay, clearing the way for a project intended to help restore the storm-battered South Beach.
Declaring a state of emergency expedites the permitting process to dredge and restore sand in the area and opens the town to additional sources of funding and reimbursement from the Massachusetts emergency management agency (MEMA).
