Public works commissioner warns Town Board of disappearing end of Crescent Beach

Crescent Beach is receding from west to east because of the steady erosion of sand by easterly currents and the spoils from any major dredging projects should be used to replenish it, Highway Superintendent Jay Card told the Town Board Tuesday.

Mr. Card, in the audience at the board’s Tuesday work session to discuss the purchase of a rear-discharge mower, joined in as board members discussed sites that are on the town’s priority list for dredging by the Suffolk County Department of Public Works. When Councilman Peter Reich suggested that dredge spoil from Dickerson and Menantic Creeks be used to renourish Wades Beach, Mr. Card suggested Crescent Beach instead.

Along the south side of the Island, currents also are eroding beaches to the east — the reason why sand on the bay side of Shell Beach erodes, causing the point at Shell Beach to migrate eastward into the channel at the mouth of West Neck Harbor.

Mr. Card said he’d been out on the water for the first time in a long while recently and had noticed how little beach appeared to be rimming the shoreline at Crescent Beach. He noted that his predecessor, Mark Ketcham, “had to extend both steps to Louie’s Beach” because the sand had receded so far below the last step. “The Pridwin once had 30 feet of beach and now if it’s 10 feet it’s a lot,” Mr. Card said, noting there’s a photo in the downstairs men’s room of the hotel that shows the wider beach years ago.
Mr. Reich agreed that erosion was affecting the Island. “Crab Creek has moved to the north,” he noted.

Mr. Card warned that if the town waits too long to plan a beach nourishment program, the state DEC might forbid it. That’s what happened at the end of Peconic Lane, he said. Because “there was no beach left,” the state considered the area wetlands and prohibited dumping any sand there.

Also at the brief session, over which Councilwoman Chris Lewis presided as deputy supervisor, the board discussed the Bridgehampton Bank’s application to remodel a space in the Karen Boltax building on Route 114 in the Center as a bank branch. Board members said the owner of the building had to authorize the bank to act as her agent before the board can schedule a hearing on the proposal, which requires a special permit from the board.

The case prompted permit administrator Mary Wilson and board members to discuss the need for rules in the zoning code to limit how many units in an existing business building can be subdivided into smaller business spaces. Ms. Wilson said the code currently sets no limits at all. She said the code also provides no guidance in such cases on any additional parking that might be necessary, new lighting and other details.

The board heard Mr. Card explain the need for a new lawn mower to add to the departmental fleet. He said it should be a rear-discharge mower to comply with new standards that discourage side-discharge mowers, which can send clippings into streets and adjacent waterways. Mr. Card also urged the board to consider the purchase of a wide-area mower and a shared-use arrangement with the school district, which he said could save the town $30,000 a year in labor time and gas because it can cut large areas so much faster than standard mowers: one day versus five days for the 42 acres of town and school open properties that need mowing.

He reported that the long-discussed plan to put a roof over the Recycling Center at the landfill was on hold as he studies the options and looks for a “long-term solution.” He said he had plans for the footing “but I don’t want to present it to you yet.”
Ms. Lewis told Mr. Card that residents were pleased with the trees he had placed in the Recycling Center. He said the zelkova trees were there temporarily and will be planted on School Street after the school district completes renovation work that required the removal of a sickly maple there.

Mr. Card said he would be moving the location of the goody pile soon as part of a plan to smooth the traffic flow through the Recycling Center.

Also on Tuesday, the board informally agreed to vote at its regular meeting on Friday to approve the policy and procedures manual for the town’s Emergency Medical Services department by a committee headed by Joy Bausman and Jack Thilberg.