Select Board keeps Somerset beach‑preservation article on warrant while appeals remain unresolved

Meredith Moldenhauer, representing the Somerset/Vineyard Beach Preservation Fund, asked the Select Board Jan. 14 to reinstate a previously tabled beach‑preservation warrant article that would authorize a license or MOU for coastal erosion work.

Meredith said one of two appeals had been stipulated to dismissal and that the group is preparing a sand‑management plan for the Conservation Commission. Natural Resources Director Vince Murphy confirmed that while one appeal appears to be resolved, a second appeal by local property owners remains active and that MassDEP has referred part of the matter to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) review (the transcript referenced 'NEPA/Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act' in discussion). Murphy said the appeal could require anything from a short resolution to a lengthy environmental review, depending on the process that follows.

Board members said they want the license agreement and sand‑mitigation plan settled well before Town Meeting to permit robust outreach; they agreed, by consensus, to keep the article on the warrant but emphasized it should be removed if key items — license terms and sand approvals from Conservation Commission/MassDEP — are not resolved in time. Meredith and staff committed to continued coordination and periodic status reports to the board.

The Select Board’s action preserves the option of asking Town Meeting to authorize a license while signaling that final approval and outreach must be complete before the town executes any agreement.