Critical Planning Committee
Bay/Pond Beaches
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Eastham Town Hall
Present: Loretta Neilsen, Beverly Fallstron, Joe Mistretta, Gerry Mistretta, Bob Smith, Joan Sullivan . Also present: Russ French
The minutes of the July 8th meeting were approved.
The cancellation of the presentation on beach erosion remedies in Eastham by Coastal Engineering of Florida and sponsored by the Eastham Forum was discussed. Loretta had received a telephone call from the Town Administrator regarding the decision by Coastal to not do the presentation and also copies of e-mails sent by the firm.
Beach monitoring reports were presented. The bath houses at First Encounter are closed and an additional porto potty has been added. The bike rakes are overused and a new one could be added. The paper signs “do not walk on dunes” are missing or torn. Children are running on the dunes. The parking area seems less crowded than last year. The new beach sign is somewhat obscured by over hanging branches. Despite the very warm weather, there have been no days when the lot was full.
Great Pond beach was in good shape although the woods around the porto potty could be cleaned up. Herring Pond was functioning nicely.
South Sunken Meadow and Cook’s Brook looked fine. The parking attendant had cleaned up litter in the lot when he arrived. Some beach raking would spruce up both of these beaches.
Thumpertown and Campground were moderately busy. The bike rake seemed to be always filled. Another would be desirable.
Wiley Park, as noted at our previous meeting, looks wonderful with the additional sand and fencing. Families can now sit on the beach and have room for chairs and umbrellas. Everyone loves the new docks. The poison ivy is still a problem and is encroaching heavily on the walking paths. Loretta is in contact with the CCNS management team for exotic plants and will investigate how they deal with the poison ivy problem.
The entrance to Wiley Park needs work. Yard trash is often dumped along the entrance way and brush and wood chip piles are evident and a possible fire hazard. Loretta stated she is willing to coordinate a landscaping plan with the Forest Advisory Committee and the Boy Scouts (who have offered their services) to landscape the entrance area. Soil and mulch could be brought in by the DPW from the transfer station, the boy scouts could help with the leveling and the Forest Advisory would select native shrubs for planting. Cost would be minimal. Wiley Park is an important and valuable town asset. The entrance area could be made inviting and attractive.
The Committee voted to present a semi-annual report to the Board of Selectmen regarding the current beach and pond situation. Joan will write this up and distribute to members for approval this week.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Joan Sullivan
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