I want to thank you for the ongoing coverage of these issues that are so important to our town and city. The is a response to your editorial of Friday, Jan. 25.
I wholeheartedly agree that our democratic representatives should be looking out for us, and for the real needs of taxpayers and homeowners, and that our democracy should take our needs seriously. That said, the selectmen of Newbury have been trying to work our democratic system for over three years, have contacted both our senators and Rep. Tierney, and until very recently, with no results.
It was only after there were articles published in both The Daily News and a Boston paper regarding our efforts to hire a lobbyist/consultant (because we had not gotten any results) that Congressman Tierney announced the allocation of approximately $650,000 as a partial allocation for the dredging of the mouth of the river. This is only a partial payment for the dredging and does not address getting the sand on the beach or fixing the jetties. And, as one of our municipal officials said, "Thanks, but what does this get us?"
I would like to clarify the work of Howard Marlowe and his firm. He is an expert consultant at working beach reclamation issues, at working with the Army Corps, and he is a technical consultant on the issues of coastal zone management. He also is an expert at working with Congress, its committees and its delegations to address these kinds of issues. He has successfully done this for over 40 communities on both the east and west coasts of the U.S. Mr. Marlowe is not a back-room, slush fund, dollar-slipping lobbyist. He is a straight-up person, with a straight-up service. And just looking over his Web site, you can see the results.
Mr. Marlowe will help us get the whole thing done, start to finish, so that the monies raised actually lead to the results we need. For instance, last time the dredging was done, the sand was dropped 400-600 feet off shore with the view that it would "wash ashore." Obviously this has not happened. With Mr. Marlowe involved we will achieve the complete result of the sand on the beach where we actually need it.
Our needs are for approximately $3-5 million to fix the jetties, dredge the river mouth and deposit the sand on the beach. Each of these three elements is critical to sustaining our beach and the safety of our island and the sanctity of our water and sewer system.
I wholeheartedly agree that our democratic representatives should be looking out for us, and for the real needs of taxpayers and homeowners, and that our democracy should take our needs seriously. That said, the selectmen of Newbury have been trying to work our democratic system for over three years, have contacted both our senators and Rep. Tierney, and until very recently, with no results.
It was only after there were articles published in both The Daily News and a Boston paper regarding our efforts to hire a lobbyist/consultant (because we had not gotten any results) that Congressman Tierney announced the allocation of approximately $650,000 as a partial allocation for the dredging of the mouth of the river. This is only a partial payment for the dredging and does not address getting the sand on the beach or fixing the jetties. And, as one of our municipal officials said, "Thanks, but what does this get us?"
I would like to clarify the work of Howard Marlowe and his firm. He is an expert consultant at working beach reclamation issues, at working with the Army Corps, and he is a technical consultant on the issues of coastal zone management. He also is an expert at working with Congress, its committees and its delegations to address these kinds of issues. He has successfully done this for over 40 communities on both the east and west coasts of the U.S. Mr. Marlowe is not a back-room, slush fund, dollar-slipping lobbyist. He is a straight-up person, with a straight-up service. And just looking over his Web site, you can see the results.
Mr. Marlowe will help us get the whole thing done, start to finish, so that the monies raised actually lead to the results we need. For instance, last time the dredging was done, the sand was dropped 400-600 feet off shore with the view that it would "wash ashore." Obviously this has not happened. With Mr. Marlowe involved we will achieve the complete result of the sand on the beach where we actually need it.
Our needs are for approximately $3-5 million to fix the jetties, dredge the river mouth and deposit the sand on the beach. Each of these three elements is critical to sustaining our beach and the safety of our island and the sanctity of our water and sewer system.
This is an urgent need. One more storm like the Patriots Day storm and we could have serious damage, with a resultant cost far in excess of the $18,000 we are seeking from Newburyport at this time.
Our intent is to get the sand on the beach in '09. This is a short-term fix to protect all of our interests.
The effort cited in your editorial re: an attempt to bring together multiple municipalities along the northern shore, to purchase a barge that can do the dredging and then to run that barge and distribute its efforts across these municipalities is a fine idea. These ideas have been presented by the leaders of the meeting last Friday and could be an important part of an overall coastal management plan. It is a longer term idea and will require years to yield results. This is a worthy effort, and we support the idea of this longer term solution. However, it will not come in the next few years. And our island needs help now.
Our taxpayers and homeowners deserve a solution sooner than later, and we need to avert what may become much more serious erosion and damage to our island and our economy.
Marc Sarkady is a Plum Island home owner and taxpayer.
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