Leah, a town staff member presenting the Coastal Resiliency Advisory Committee’s first- and second-quarter report, told the committee that Town Meeting voters approved funds to move the Easy Street Flood Mitigation Project to full design and permitting and to prepare bid-ready construction documents. "I believe it's $2,400,000 for full designs, permitting, and construction bid-ready documents," Leah said during the meeting.

The committee was updated on several town coastal-resiliency projects and next steps, including the Francis Street beach-improvement collaboration with the Land Bank, three design options for the Easy Street project and a downtown neighborhood flood-barrier concept that will need coordinated public and private efforts. Committee members were told the Easy Street grant period ended June 30 and that the town now has funding to advance the chosen design to the next technical stages.

Why this matters: The projects discussed are intended to protect downtown infrastructure and low-lying neighborhoods from recurring coastal flooding and rising groundwater. Committee members pressed for additional technical studies and more outreach before the Select Board selects a final design.

Committee briefing and key details

- Funding and next steps: Leah said the town has funding—approved at Town Meeting—to move the Easy Street project from concept to full design, permitting and bid-ready documents, and that a Select Board decision will determine which of the three design options moves forward. She also said the project will include a pump-station feasibility study and updated hydraulic and groundwater modeling to check for adverse impacts on neighboring properties. "With whatever design is chosen by the Select Board, we now have funding to move that to full design and permitting," Leah said.

- Scope and timeline: Leah told the group the grant for the concept phase closed June 30 and that permitting can take "a couple years" if all goes well; construction could be about three years out under optimistic assumptions. She said final permitting timelines vary widely and that more data—such as groundwater elevations—was needed to refine models and answer Select Board questions.

- Related projects and coordination: The report summarized work on the Francis Street beach-improvement partnership (town, Land Bank and partners), dune-stabilization pilots in Dionys and Madaket, and presentations from outside experts including NOAA tide-gauge analysis and a Boston road-raising project (Bennington Street/ Fredericks Park) offered as a reference case. Private-property owners in the proposed downtown barrier area (for example, members of the Brandt Point Association) shared experience raising homes and navigating permitting; CRAC voted to invite property owners to dedicated meetings to coordinate efforts.

- Technical and permitting needs: Leah said the design scope will include expanded public outreach and pump-station feasibility because pump capacity is necessary to remove stormwater and any coastal overtopping. She flagged that updated modeling will check for impacts to abutting properties and the town will gather more ground and groundwater data to feed tidal and groundwater models.

What the committee decided and asked the Select Board

- The committee asked that community feedback and the additional technical data be presented to the Select Board before it chooses among the three Easy Street options. Sarah Boyse, vice chair, urged a clear outreach plan and more open houses to allow residents to review designs prior to Select Board action.

- Members noted the town’s capital appropriations approved at Town Meeting for multiple natural-resources/coastal projects and asked staff to track dependencies and timelines so the Select Board and public understand permitting and procurement constraints.

Background and context

- Committee members heard a presentation by Chuck Larson on long-term tide-gauge data and were told the town is preparing a final Easy Street project report, which Leah will post to the project website. The committee also discussed the need to update zoning and floodplain regulations in line with state 2020 mandatory floodplain requirements (that update must go through Town Meeting) before the committee pursues higher local standards.

Looking ahead: The committee requested that staff include milestone dates and dollar amounts in future quarterly summaries to make it easier for members and the public to find recorded presentations and to show the scale of funding requested and approved. Leah said she will add dates and appropriation amounts to the next report and continue outreach and data collection for the Easy Street project.