Bayville residents turned out in full force on Tuesday night at the Intermediate School to voice their opinions about the Bayville Coastal Storm Damage project proposed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE.) The two government agencies also presented preliminary information on the feasibility study portion of the project. The meeting was a follow up to a January public meeting where the initial plan was laid out.
The plan calls for an above-ground structure to cover the Sound side and Bay side of the village with an estimated height of 14 feet on the Sound side and 13 feet on the Bay side. The structures, according to the NYSDEC and USACE, will help prevent flood coastal erosion damage from major coastal storms. There are also plans for an upgrade to the village’s water drainage system to help diminish the effects of coastal flooding.
There are six parts to the Corps plan that include Congressional authorization and a Reconnaissance study, which have already been instituted. The feasibility study is the current phase of the project and if approved by the village to move forward, the next step would be the design phase, construction and operation and maintenance.
The current draft estimate for the entire project is $48-$53 million, which includes the design/permitting costs, real estate acquisition, environmental mitigation costs and a 30 percent contingency to account for uncertainties at this point in the study.
“This project is part of our Coastal Erosion Program, which encompasses another dozen projects statewide,” said NYSDEC staff member Sue McCormack. “We are here tonight to try and get feedback on folks on our current plan before we move forward.”
The majority of residents at the meeting were not on board with the proposed plan, with one resident asking about the real estate requirements and if she was going to be removed from her home during the drainage system installation stage.
“Will you need to take over our homes to build this thing?” asked the concerned resident.
McCormack said that people will not be forced to leave their homes and that the only thing under construction would be the streets, particularly on the Bay side.
“At this point we are still unsure what kind of system will be installed, it could be swales, perforated pipes or drainage pipes,” said McCormack.
Another resident was concerned about the number of pumping stations being built and if three stations was enough in case of another storm like Sandy or the Nor’easter of ‘92 that devastated the village.
“I was here during the storm of ‘92 and I remember it took a week of pumping, 24 hours a day, seven days a week to get all of the water out of the numbered streets,” said the resident. “I think that with only three stations there is no way we’ll get all the water out and I believe a bad enough storm could have the potential of breaking this wall.”
A Bay Beach Avenue resident had one of the more poignant questions of the night, saying that her family didn’t move to the village so they could see a wall all around them.
“How are we going to see the water, the sky, all of the things that make Bayville beautiful? How will my husband fish and how are we going to get to the beach? Is there a door?” she half joked.
She added that her grandmother had moved to Bayville in 1960 and said that the village’s beauty was comparable to that of the coast of Italy.
Bayville Mayor Paul Rupp assured the residents that the project was “not a done deal either way” and that there would be a decision on whether to move forward with it by the end of May.
