PLUM ISLAND — Newbury officials have ordered the removal of parts of three Northern Boulevard houses as the sea continues to threaten homes near Plum Island Center.
A house at 16R Northern Blvd. was demolished last week after the dune it was on was undermined by high tide and wind, leaving the building teetering over the beach below.
Yesterday, Building Inspector Sam Joslin told the owners at 4, 6 and 8 Northern Blvd. to take down decks, fences and a trellis because they could be vulnerable to further beach erosion.
The fear is that wooden objects in the water could damage a system of giant sandbags that is currently being installed on the beach to slow down the erosion.
Joslin issued his orders after viewing the area just north of the Center with other town officials, including Assistant Emergency Management Director Tim Leonard, Conservation Agent Doug Packer and Finance Director Chuck Kostro.
Joslin wants a fence and trellis removed at the 4 Northern Blvd. home of David and Donita Rardin; along with part of a two-story deck and a platform from a three-unit building, owned by Mark Farrell at 6 Northern Blvd.; and a rear-entry deck on a seasonal cottage at 8 Northern Blvd., owned by Anthony Kodzis of Medford.
"All those things become projectiles in a storm," Packer said. "We need to be proactive about getting them off the beach. Even a two-by-four jeopardizes those bags."
The three properties where the owners have been ordered to remove portions of structures have an aggregate valuation of $2.57 million, according to assessors' records.
Town officials expressed concern that erosion continues to take place at and near the Center, even when tides are not extraordinarily high and winds are merely moderate.
The storm last Tuesday that destabilized the 16R Northern Blvd. home of 79-year-old Geri Buzzotta was not considered severe, but it resulted in the complete destruction of the building.
The debris at the demolition scene had been completely removed by yesterday.
Selectmen have scheduled a special meeting for tomorrow evening at 7 at Plum Island Taxpayers and Associates Hall on Plum Island Boulevard. The only topic on the agenda is an update on Plum Island erosion strategies.
The town has been asking for state and federal assistance in dealing with the erosion, which has accelerated over the course of this year.
In the short run, town officials and property owners are hoping the sandbag system, currently being installed by a Lexington-based erosion control company called Netco, will get the island through the winter storm season.
Packer said Netco has put on one extra five-member crew to step up the pace of the sandbag installation and may call in a third crew. He said he has talked to state officials about the cost of extending the sandbag system farther north from the Center. Current plans call for sandbags along about 500 feet of the dune. The bags, which are up to 27 feet long, will be piled up in four layers.
Longer-term solutions under consideration are dredging sand from the Merrimack River channel and dumping it directly onto the beach, and repairing and partially rebuilding the stone jetties that define the mouth of the Merrimack, the north jetty on Salisbury Beach and the south jetty at the northern tip of Plum Island.
Selectmen Chairman Vincent Russo has said that an Army Corps of Engineers jetty expert told him the landward end of the south jetty needs to be repaired and made 3 feet higher than its current specifications.
The jetties have not been rebuilt since 1970. The channel has not been dredged in nearly 10 years. Both tasks would be handled by the Army Corps.
An organization called the Plum Island Foundation has been raising money and has employed a Washington lobbying firm to try to get funds for the dredging and jetty projects into the federal budget for the Army Corps. Congress allocated about half the $1.4 million needed for dredging in last year's budget.
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