Town Board holds off granting permit to repair bulkheads at eroded property near Reel Point

The Town Board decided not to vote on Friday as planned on Lawrence Kogel’s application for permission to rebuild the badly deteriorated bulkheading and south jetty at his run-down property on Gardiners Bay, on Club Drive just north of a spot near Reel Point that appears prone to erosion and a possible breakthrough between the bay and Coecles Harbor.

The board delayed a vote after Councilman Peter Reich called for a more detailed site plan for re-vegetating the parcel after the south and east bulkheads are rebuilt and sand fill is brought in to close the gap between the eroded upland and the new structures. Board members noted that the house is in danger due to erosion, which already threatens to undermine the front steps.

Mr. Reich said that without a clear vegetation plan it would be hard for details to be communicated to workers. Otherwise, “Poeple will interpret things differently,” he said. Mr. Reich suggested granting the bulkhead permit subject to filling behind the new structures up to six inches from the top; that would allow work to begin as the board reviewed plans for a topspoil layer and the plantings.

Supervisor Jim Dougherty suggested tabling the case until the board’s work session Tuesday, August 14 to allow a vegetation site plan to be submitted. The board could convene a special meeting and vote to approve the work then. That timetable would still allow the marine contracting work to be completed by November 1, 2012.

Board members left for a future discussion the question of whether or not some kind of reinforcement were needed such as rock armoring south of the Kogel property to prevent a breakthrough that could cut off Reel Point from the rest of Ram Island.