The East Hampton Town Board reported that work was imminent on two long-awaited and large projects in Montauk: the Ditch Plain dune reconstruction and the dredging of the Lake Montauk Inlet.
As for the dredging, “The parking lot north of Gosman’s which is a town-owned parking lot, will be shut down shortly as they start to stage equipment there,” Councilman David Lys reported at Tuesday’s meeting. “The project is only moving forward because the supervisor was able to find funding sources to cover it.”
Last winter, the United States Army Corps of Engineers completed an emergency dredge of the inlet down to 12 feet after areas of it had shoaled, allowing for passage only at high tide. While it was agreed to and announced afterward that a complete dredge to 17 feet would be completed this fall, in the summer the federal government said the single bid came in too high, and it was $1.1 million short.
Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez announced in early September that the town was able to plug the funding gap with money from its $29 million host community agreement with South Fork Wind.
Mr. Lys said a pre-construction meeting was held among the contractor, the federal government, the state, county, and town employees on Monday. “They should start work within the next couple of weeks,” he said.
During her liaison report, Councilwoman Cate Rogers said work on the Ditch Plain dune would also begin in the next few weeks.
The dune project was first announced in June of 2024. A first phase saw 5,800 cubic yards of sand dumped on the beach and was completed in time for the high summer season of 2024.
A series of strong storms during the winter of 2023 had eroded the dune, exposing the residential neighborhood behind it. The town worked with engineers to design a Federal Emergency Management Agency-compliant dune, which will be 20 feet high. It received a permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation this summer to commence work.
The dune will require 20,000 cubic yards of sand and span 2,200 linear feet.
The town and the state are both contributing $2.5 million to the $5 million project.
The fact that it’s FEMA-compliant has always been touted by the board. Should an emergency wipe it out, the town would be able to apply for FEMA reimbursement to reconstruct it.
