The Fire Island Association’s Summer Meeting will be held on Saturday, July 31, at the Community House in Ocean Beach, starting at 11 am. The main speaker will be Congressman Steve Israel (D., NY-2nd), whose district includes most Fire Island communities. Mr. Israel is a member of the House Appropriations Sub-Committee on Energy and Water Development, the committee that will be responsible for recommending appropriation of funds for the Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point beach nourishment program. Other speakers will include FINS Superintendent Chris Soller, Suffolk County Police Department Marine Bureau Commander Hal Jantzen and several other public figures.
FIA will arrange free water taxi service for communities east of Point O’Woods and West of Atlantique. A schedule will be posted here and sent to community websites when it is made final. Reserve in the usual way by phoning 665-8885 about an hour before the scheduled departure and mention you are going the FIA meeting in Ocean Beach, and there will be no charge. When embarking, advise the captain and/or crew to the same effect.
Anyone reading the Times weather page in the ten days leading up to Sunday, October 18 had an excuse for being anxious. The maritime forecast consistently reported winds from the northeast anywhere between 10 and 30 mph, “with higher gusts,” for more than a week straight. Those winds not only pummeled the newly restored beaches, it made Fire Island Inlet, already far from efficient at draining Great South Bay because of sand clogging the channel, even more of a problem: the tides flow in but don’t completely drain, so the next tide piles up behind the first, and so on. Television news showed places like Freeport and Bayville on the bay’s north side coping with serious street flooding as a result.
But tides piling up in the bay pose another threat as well: if there is a low, flat area (and Fire Island has several of them) once there is enough water in the bay it won’t wait around for the tide to go out, it will seek the quickest way to the ocean, and that means through the island. It didn’t happen this time but it sure pointed up the need for the Corps of Engineers and New York State to get together on an emergency program for maintenance dredging at the inlets, especially the Fire Island Inlet.
As for the ocean side, Fire Island did not escape unscathed; and one shudders to think of what might have happened but for the 2009 community nourishment projects. From east to west, Bob Spencer (Davis Park) reported very high tides and mainland flooding. On the ocean side, he reports severe scarping in the persistent “erosion hot spot” that afflicts about 500 feet toward the western part of that community. Unless a period of westerly winds rebuilds the area, more nor’easters “could be real nasty,” Bob says.
Fire Island Pines experienced severe erosion at the eastern end, according to Jay Pagano. One set of stairs was lost. In another context, Steve Keehn, the ’09 project engineer, noted that the eastern ends of all of the projects are exposed to northeast winds, and the experience at the Pines seems to bear this out.
Ocean Bay Park came through “in pretty good shape”, according to Steven Jaffee. Stairs and fencing are all still standing, although a lot of sand was lost, he added. He noted that Seaview (which adjoins Ocean Bay Park to the west) seems to have lost several hundred feet of sand fencing.
Ocean Beach had flooding up as far as Midway, Love the Plumber reports. There was a foot or more of water near the water tower, but the area near the court house was dry by comparison.
Robbins Rest, to the west of Ocean Beach, was very pleased with the performance of its new bulkhead. Still, water came up from the bay about 100 yards, the Association reported.
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Fire Island Homeowners Present Certificates to
Jeffrey Kassner, Marie Michel and Barbara Wiplush
The Fire Island Association (FIA) and a delegation of homeowners presented certificates of appreciation to three Brookhaven town employees at a meeting in Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko’s office on June 12.
From left; Councilman Mazzei, Barbara Wiplush, Jerry Stoddard, Marie Michel, Deputy Supervisor Walsh, Supervisor Lesko.
read more from "Fire Island Homeowners Present Certificates"
Non-Structural Solutions Workshop
General
It is the declared intention of some government agencies and environment groups to remove existing homes from communities that were protected by the Fire Island National Seashore Act, and this was a frequent subject of discussion during the workshop. The Fire Island Association believes this is unnecessary, as well as violative of the statute, since well-established methods of beach nourishment can protect existing structures, while newly applicable state law provides adequate assurance that the approved density levels will not be exceeded.
read more from "February 2001: Non-Structural Solutions"
THE FIRE ISLAND INTERIM PROJECT
WILL NOT CAUSE BUILDING ON DUNES
Summary and Conclusion
Several environment organizations recently have publicly opposed a beach nourishment project on Fire Island because of fears that the project will lead to new residential building in dune areas. The following discussion reveals other more likely reasons for opposition to the project, while demonstrating that there is no basis for the professed “fears.
read more from "April 2000 — Opponents fear more dune houses"
A Reply to FINS
In the Fall 1999 newsletter of Save Our Seashore, Inc., the Superintendent of the Fire Island National Seashore set forth his position on the proposed Fire Island Interim Project, a transitional shore protection effort designed to protect Fire Island beaches until a longer term solution known as the Reformulation Study can be implemented.
In the course of doing so he demonstrated a bias against the project. The Fire Island Association believes the Superintendent’s position would place properties and government infrastructure, both on Fire Island and on the south shore of Long Island, at needless risk in order to effectuate a policy designed to facilitate removal of private development from the barrier island. Supt. Dillon’s statement is attached. His major points are encapsulated below in boldface type, followed by comments from the Fire Island Association.
read more from "1999 — Seashore Opposes Interim Project"
