Shoring up Nantasket Beach wall

Dining at a window table at the Red Parrot restaurant recently, Teddy Lentini paused to take in the sun setting over Nantasket Beach as it colored the surf and sand hues of teal and pink.

"The beach is beautiful tonight," she said to her dinner companion. But her mood quickly turned when she talked about what the state plans to do this month to repair the beach's sea wall: "What a stupid idea, putting cobble on the beach," said Lentini, a year-round Hull resident for 25 years. "I think it's a disaster."

That sentiment is echoing around town. Some residents, business owners, and town officials are upset that the state Department of Conservation and Recreation is planning to dump 31,000 tons of cobble and 6,000 tons of sand on the beach to secure 2,000 feet of the sea wall that state officials say might collapse. The plan was upheld Tuesday by the state Department of Environmental Protection, weeks after a tall chain link fence was erected across the boardwalk, parking spaces were blocked off, and warning signs posted.

Town officials complain that the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, which has authority over the beach, has not addressed local concerns and is not considering how the work might affect the crucial summer tourist season, said Selectman Jerry McLaughlin.

"They are circumventing the town Conservation Commission for permitting and going directly to the state [Department of Environmental Protection] without giving the town any say on how they are going to alleviate this situation," said McLaughlin.

The state Department of Conservation and Recreation last month requested an emergency certification from the Hull Conservation Commission to allow an immediate stabilization of the sea wall, along a portion running from the parking lot near Le Calypso restaurant to the Mary Jeanette Murray Bathhouse on Nantasket Avenue. State officials want to place cobble material and sand in front of the wall on the ocean side and repair cracks, at an estimated cost to the state of $1.1 million, according to a letter addressed to Margo Clerkin, Hull's conservation administrator.

The letter from Katherine F. Abbott, commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, said the project needs to start as soon as possible or the state might have to spend more than $8 million to replace that section of the wall. "To leave this wall vulnerable to fail, causing millions of dollars in damage to Commonwealth property and possible injury or loss of life would be a dereliction of duty," the letter states.

Although the Hull Conservation Commission granted the Department of Conservation and Recreation permission to limit access to the section of the wall and to post signs, it denied the emergency certification and requested that state officials file a Notice of Intent for the emergency work. Such a notice requires public comment, which town officials say has been lacking in the process.

The work proposed is not an emergency but "part of an ongoing condition that both town officials and the Army Corps have been asking the DCR to address for many years," according to a written decision by the Hull commission.

State Department of Conservation and Recreation officials appealed the commission's decision to the Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP on Tuesday announced that it is upholding the appeal and the project can proceed without town consent. The DEP's written decision states that work can begin today and end April 30. The only way for town officials to appeal would be through Superior Court, said Joe Ferson, spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection. But Hull Town Manager Christopher McCabe said there are other permits the state will need before proceeding, and that would require public hearings, which would delay action. Ferson confirmed that the DCR still needs approval from the state Office of Coastal Zone Management and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Department of Conservation and Recreation spokesman Felix Browne said money for temporary repairs has already been approved and the bid process is underway. The work would take 30 days to complete, and be done long before the town's beach season takes off, he said.

Browne said the department is not trying to bypass Hull officials. "It's not going around them. It's appealing their decision, which happens every day in towns across the Commonwealth," he said. "Our first charge is to make sure our infrastructure is in sufficient shape to preserve public safety."

McLaughlin said town officials are not questioning whether the work needs to be done, but why state officials waited until March to ask for an emergency repair of damage done during a December storm. Town officials have complained for years to many state agencies about the condition of the sea wall, he said. Also, the state has not formally presented its proposal to the Board of Selectmen and has not offered information on how the cobblestone and sand would be maintained on the beach once it is dumped, he said.

"I have a great concern about dumping these rocks and sand" on the beach, said McLaughlin. "Have you seen a good storm, the way waves hit that wall? Those rocks are going to shoot over that wall like bullets."

Selectman Leonard Hersch said he dislikes the fencing that the state has placed along the sea wall. "We're not here to prohibit people from going on the beach," he said. "I'm concerned about the coming season. The problem should have been rectified years ago. Somebody dropped the ball."

Larry Kellem, president of the Hull-Nantasket Beach Chamber of Commerce, predicts that once summer arrives, residents in surrounding neighborhoods and businesses along the beach will feel the impact of the fenced-off section of the wall. He said he doubts any stabilization project would be done in 30 days.

"There will be lack of parking accommodations for day trippers," said Kellem. "It will affect the volume of traffic and congestion with people frustrated about parking. . . The impact on the neighborhoods will be greater because people will be hustling to find parking anywhere they can."

Sandy Coleman can be reached by at sbcoleman@globe.com.