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Newbury Select Board votes to accept 2009 beach-easements tied to Palm Island nourishment project
Summary
After public comment and extended discussion about property rights and grant eligibility, the Newbury Select Board voted to accept easements tied to the 2009 Palm Island beach-nourishment project; board members said acceptance was required for future dredge material grants and would not prevent individual owners from seeking removal.
The Newbury Select Board voted on June 9, 2026, to accept recorded easements granted by private property owners related to the October 27, 2009, Palm Island Beach Nourishing Project, a board member announced.
The motion, read aloud by the chair, listed multiple affected parcels and registry book-and-page references and was seconded before the board discussed the legal and practical effects of accepting the easements. The reading included addresses on Northern Boulevard and several registry references recorded with the registry of deeds.
Nut graf: The vote came after public comment from island residents and extended board discussion about whether a required 2009 acceptance had ever been recorded, the legal effect of accepting easements today, and the town’s ability to continue receiving state-supported dredge material. Supporters argued the infill project had protected properties and increased values; some board members said accepting the easements preserved grant eligibility and shore-protection options for the community.
In public comment, Steve (a resident of 14th Street who identified himself as a geologist) urged the board to rely on signed documents rather than recollection, saying, “the barrier beach is a dynamic system” and emphasizing that easements represented a contract tied to receiving sand. Peter Ericson (48 Northern Boulevard) said the infill had saved property and was part of a written contract: “This is a contract that’s protected our property for 15 years,” he told the board.
During the board’s deliberation, members discussed regulatory and recordkeeping matters. One member said the Division of Fish and Wildlife has asked the town for a record of a prior acceptance vote and that the town could not find a record of that vote. Counsel was reported to have advised that accepting the easements now would not bar property owners from later seeking removal of an easement; several members nevertheless said they feared the town could lose access to future sand placement and related grants if it appeared to renege on prior arrangements.
Select Board member Patrick (participating remotely) said accepting the easements would be “prudent” governance and that existing beach-monitoring work — including the town’s current contract with Audubon for the year — would continue unchanged. Leslie Matthews and other members emphasized the townwide consequences of grant eligibility, noting that projects and funding for Old Town, Plum Island and other areas are evaluated together.
The board conducted a roll-call vote. The transcript records “yes” votes from Alicia Greco, Gil Deo, Leslie Matthews and Patrick; the transcript does not record every member’s vote by full name in the available excerpt. After the vote the chair closed the item and thanked participants.
The board did not adopt any language that, according to the transcript, would change property owners’ ability to challenge or seek removal of easements; members said such legal steps would be a separate process. The next procedural step recorded in the meeting was approval of routine new-business items and permits.
Ending: The board moved on to other agenda items after the easement acceptance; public materials and a related coastal-resilience study were noted as available on the town website.
