By Timothy Bolger

In a change of many winter scenarios, Fire Islanders can actually breath a sigh of relief returning to the beach this summer as the expected sand loss is met with wide deep spans of sandy beaches-- thanks to the completion of the latest renourishment project. The massive beach reconstruction effort to ensure storm surge protection started on the West End in January and wrapped up work in the most vulnerable community, Davis Park, in March. But delays resulted in the project missing an April 1 deadline and an the permit was required to be extended to complete work in Ocean Beach and neighboring communities by April 25.

The $22 million project pumped nearly 2 million cubic feet of sand onto almost all of the shorelines abutting almost all of the 17 communities to mitigate the years of erosion that beachfronts have endured since the last such project five years ago. Portions of beach were built up to four feet and stretch out nearly 70 feet in some areas, officials say. Such projects have become a twice-a-decade event while barrier beach residents await federal intervention through the Fire Island to Montauk Point Reformulation Study, which has languished for about 40 years. The stopgap measure undertaken this past winter required a dredge to pump ocean sand from a sand bar south of the island onto the shoreline, which was then spread out with heavy construction equipment.

Point ‘O Woods also opted out of the project this year, as did Kismet, where homeowners instead decided on beach scraping, which is bulldozing sand back toward the dune line.

Those sections of the larger project that have already been completed include the beach in front of the communities of Saltaire through Lonelyville, Davis Park, and Fire Island Pines, which was the focus of the 2003 project. A simultaneous short-term beach nourishment project at Smith Point County Park, which started in December, 2008, was completed by the end of March. The final stretch of work to be done is in central Fire Island communities between Ocean Bay Park and Cornielle Estates.

With increasing concerns about rising ocean levels resulting from melting polar ice caps as a result of global warming, the project could not have come at a more critical time, proponents say. But the project did not start as early as planners had hoped, as both the permitting process and weather proved stubborn in the months leading up to as well as during the construction. Since the project was not finished as planned by April 1, the start of the endangered Piping Plover’s nesting season, the permit was extended for the finishing touches on work in the central-island area.

The extension was approved by Chris Soller, Superintendent of Fire Island National Seashore (FINS), after consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to a FINS spokesman. The Department of Interior, National Park Service, and Army Corps of Engineers were also closely involved in the overall permitting process.

“These public beaches are the first line of defense for the mainland and the best reason to be on Fire Island in the summer,” said Gerry Stoddard, president of the Fire Island Association. The project was partially funded by a FEMA grant that was issued following an erosion event that the beaches endured during a prior Nor’easter with additional funds from the FI taxpayers who contribute to erosion control districts in their individual communities.

“In this case, the Fire Island communities weren’t even asking for federal funds, they were simply asking us to cut some red tape so they could protect themselves,” said Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton). The work is necessary because “Long Island’s beaches and tourist destinations are vital to our economy,” Bishop said. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) was also involved in cutting some of the red tape.

“Unfortunately for the people of Fire Island, Mother Nature does not work at the same snail’s pace of the bureaucratic agencies in Washington,” Schumer said. “It is unacceptable to let the Fire Island’s beaches erode away without taking action.” Despite those efforts, there was still that one final hurdle that emerged before the work could be completed.

As for the one startling difference on the beach before the last bit of work was completed is the fact that the beach in the off season had a maroon color from the type of sand used in the first round of work that was done on the village oceanfront. That will not be a concern once new white sand is poured on top of that sand in the final phase of the project, Mendelsohn noted.

Village of Ocean Beach Mayor Joseph Loeffler, Jr. was not available for comment.

“There may be those that say such an effort is or was not needed however, after decades of study, millions of dollars spent and very detailed risk analysis performed I think it has been proven beyond a shadow of doubt they are wrong,” said Joseph Vietri, chief of planning and policy for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Northern Atlantic Division, a central figure in the larger FIMP study, in an email while vacationing in Aruba.