Schumer Calls for Barrier Island Beach Rebuilding by 2014

Sen. Charles Schumer on Sunday urged the federal government to get to work immediately on a Long Beach barrier island storm protection project that could otherwise be delayed by a long-term study up to two years.

Follow Long Beach Patch on Facebook.  

The federal plan could require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to forgo construction until a two-year east-coast-wide study is completed, and Schumer called on corps and the Office of Management and Budget to allow the protection project to move forward immediately.  

“My pledge to you is that I will be on them,” Schumer said at a press conference held at Civic Beach in Point Lookout. “I will make sure that there aren’t delays because, as we know, getting the money and getting it approved is only half the job. Then you have to actually get it done.”  

Earlier this month Schumer announced that the federal government would fund the entire $150 million project that includes building a 16-foot-high dune throughout the beachfront in Long Beach. Last Tuesday, the Long Beach City Council voted to authorize the city to partner with the state to more forward with the project. At that meeting, Jim LaCarrubba, the city’s public works commissioner, said the project would take within three years to materialize.    

Schumer on Sunday explained that three other steps must be completed without delays so that the project may be ready for the 2014 summer season, all in an effort to shore up protection for future storms on the barrier island that was slammed by Hurricane Sandy in October.

First, a specific engineering and design study must be executed in coordination with the rebuilding of a new tropical wood and concrete boardwalk that is proposed for Long Beach. The study is expected to take up to three to four months to complete, with Schumer calling for the study to begin right away.  

Then, the Army Corps must put a bid out to find contractors, a process that is expected to take a few months, which Schumer wants to happen immediately after completion of the engineering and design study. Once contractors are hired, work on the project can begin.

Schumer said he hopes to have “shovels in the ground” by January of 2014 so that the beaches will be ready for the 2014 summer season.

The Army Corps could build the project in the short-term, the senator said, while at the same time other long-term mitigation strategies are studied, such as flooding on the bayside of the island. City officials said last week that protection along Reynolds Channel was a separate project that they have already taken preliminary steps to rebuild.

“You can feel assured that the kind of protection that is needed in this new world with all kinds of new storms will be there,” Schumer said. “It will be strong. It will be tested. It will be Sandy-proof.”  

The senator added that no one should have any doubts about reinvesting in a small business or home on the barrier island. “They should go forward because Long Beach barrier island from one end to another, from Point Lookout to Atlantic Beach, is coming back bigger, better and stronger than ever,” he told the crowd.

Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg of Long Beach, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, City of Long Beach Council President Scott Mandel, Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford and Lido Beach Civic Association President Liz Murdy were all in attendance and thanked Schumer for his assistance with the project.

“With this storm reduction plan in place, we will now be safer than ever,” said Murray, after the Town of Hempstead last week approved a resolution to move forward on the project that will stretch to town beaches on the barrier island. “Our homes, our communities, and our business districts will be very well protected for generations to come.”   Schnirman said that the Army Corps project, which also includes raising the beach five feet from its pre-Sandy height and rehabilitating the jetties, is a “huge part” of beach protection.  

“This is a project that the city has been looking at for decades and we’re so happy to be working with Senator Schumer and teaming up with the Town of Hempstead,” he said. “The city council courageously moved forward this week and we’re looking forward to getting some good, solid protection for our city.”