The hot button topics of coastal erosion and beach renourishment on Fire Island and Long Island’s south shore came to a head at the annual Fire Island Association (FIA) meeting last Saturday. Residents and politicians alike discussed the issues surrounding erosion and beach replenishment. The Fire Island to Montauk Point Reformulation Study (FIMP) stood at the forefront of the conversation.
FIMP brought hope and promise to residents, assuring that the study will “develop a comprehensive, long-term plan to protect coastal areas that are prone to flooding, erosion and other storm damage,” according to a press release issued by Senator Hillary Clinton’s office.
For the second year in a row, President Bush’s fiscal year budget left no funds to continue and ultimately complete the two-decade study, leaving the beach unprotected, so local and state politicians reinstated the last $2.5 million. Senators Clinton and Charles Schumer and the State Appropriations Committee approved the funding as part of the Fiscal Year 2006 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The bill now proceeds to the Senate floor and, if passed this week, onto the Conference Committee where the House and Senate will reconcile the differences between each version of the bill.

As acknowledged many times at the FIA meeting, politicians have been in complete support of the funding. “The project is too important to the economy and environment of Suffolk County and Long Island,” said Senator Clinton.

Rep Tim Bishop, D-Southampton, fought to ensure $200,000 in the House of Representatives’ version of the bill, also part of the fiscal year 2006 appropriations. The plan covers 83 miles of bay and ocean shorelines from Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point, including key projects at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Tiana Beach in Hampton Bays, Lindenhurst, Bay Shore, Patchogue and the Mastics, as well as the entire South Fork.

FIA President Gerard Stoddard is optimistic about the fate of the bill, echoing Clinton and Bishop’s arguments. “I would be very surprised if they don’t support it. There is no logic to cutting the study when we are so close to completing it,” he said.

FIMP has been underway since the early 90s and is scheduled for completion in July 2007, with a final cost of approximately $24 million. More than $20 million has already been spent.

While both agree that the study is important to the seashore for a number of reasons, environmental and financial; a study completed by the Suffolk County Budget Review Office in May 2003, showed that in Suffolk County alone, south shore tourism and beach use pours more than $250 million annually into the county economy,

So although residents are pleased the funds are on their way to being restored, the main question is, as asked by one Fire Islander at the FIA meeting, “What is all of this money going toward?”

Residents feel the specifics for the community seem vague. Bishop countered. “[FIMP] looks at the shoreline as a whole and recognizes the impact. The study provides a blueprint, a science-based document for the DEC,” said Bishop.

Director of Policy and Planning North Atlantic Division, US Army Corps of Engineers, Joseph Vietri, offered that the $22 million of funding went to surveying and mapping the entire shoreline, “down to the very last blade of grass.”

The final results will focus on hurricane protection and storm damage as well as the beaches at West Hampton and Shinnecock. The completed study will offer a document that “local government can rally behind,” said Vietri.

According to Stoddard, a portion of the money was focused exclusively on Fire Island with the 2000 Interim Project. The project included a scientific study to gauge the severity of storms past and their impact on the dunes and the shoreline which will serve as a guide for future provisions. The funds were also allotted for large scale environmental studies.

“All of this will determine which areas need what; we want to reduce the amount of storm damage everywhere. We need to be aware of the infrastructure,” said Stoddard. What can community members and residents expect with the completion of the study? Protection. “There is smorgasbord of options [in the FIMP], we are trying to marry all of the projects,” said Vietri.

For some residents, though, these promises aren’t enough. Stoddard suggested in response that if Fire Islanders are unhappy with the direction of the project, they should get involved. “Educate yourself, know what you want and go to your local community association. We need to make sure that we keep in contact with the government, so they don’t forget the grassroots organizations.”

Individual differences aside, community members and politicians are seemingly working toward a common goal – to protect the shoreline.