The beaches of #MiddletownRI are considered the crown jewels of the community. The Town Council recently approved a study to help try to keep them that way for decades to come.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matt Sheley at (401) 842-6543 or msheley@middletownri.com
BEACH EROSION STUDY APPROVED
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (JUNE 11, 2024) — Middletown is having an in depth study to look at options to help preserve its beaches.
At a recent meeting in Town Hall, the Town Council unanimously approved a $42,000 contract for Coastal Systems Research & Planning and Crossman Engineering to study the beaches and Sachuest Bay area.
Town officials said the goal would be to come up with a model of what’s happening at the beaches and a best management plan to help preserve them long term, especially in the wake of sea level rise.
“As we’re all aware and we’ve talked about this over the past few years, there’s quite a bit of changes happening at Second and Third beaches,” Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown said. “Over time, our beaches are getting small and it’s becoming more and more evident and identifiable to us.”
Every summer, thousands of residents and visitors flock to Middletown’s beaches, which act as an international draw for the community.
It’s not a stretch to say the beaches help propel everything from the local economy to real estate, businesses, jobs, quality of life, mental health and so much more.
Coming into this summer, the town rented a large dump truck and excavator to move rocks that had washed ashore over the winter.
Although those areas at the end of Paths 1 and 2 have been restored thanks to the hard work of beach staff and crews with Middletown Public Works, Brown said such work will likely continue down the road.
Council President Paul M. Rodrigues said he’d like to see a smart, measured approach towards the issue. Reflecting on other oceanfront communities that have made “silly decisions” and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars moving sand only to have it disappear in the next big storm, Rodrigues said he didn’t want to see Middletown make the same mistake.
“We want to be strategic. We want to be smart,” Rodrigues said. “We want to preserve the beach. That beach is the jewel of the town and we want to make sure we take the necessary steps and get guidance from experts who deal with this type of situation.”
At the same time, Rodrigues made it clear the time had come for Middletown to do something — and the modeling was a good place to start.
“It’s not just us, it’s all the coastlines of various beaches,” Rodrigues said. “This is important to help us figure out how we’re going to address this issue. This issue is not going away.”
Document Link: https://mdl.town/NYCU-Erosion