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Select Board backs Friends of Bass River CPC application to study living‑shoreline at Indian Lands
Summary
The Select Board endorsed a Friends of Bass River request to seek Community Preservation Committee funding for a study and planning phases to address severe shoreline erosion at Indian Lands; a private donor has already contributed $50,000 to start phase 1 study work.
The Select Board on July 14 voted unanimously to support Friends of Bass River in pursuing Community Preservation Committee (CPC) funds to study living‑shoreline solutions at the Indian Lands property on Bass River.
Rick Bishop, executive director of Friends of Bass River, described significant recent erosion and tree loss at Indian Lands — including the loss of 22 shoreline trees after storm and sea‑level impacts — and showed photos of a newly exposed sandbar he attributed to material sloughing from the site. Bishop said a Yarmouth resident donated $50,000 to fund an initial engineering study by a coastal‑engineering firm (Tyne Bond/Tine Bond Engineering), and the CPC request would fund subsequent phases (design and implementation planning) to arrive at a resilient, living‑shoreline solution.
Natural Resources staff and Conservation Commission members were present and noted coordination and implementation questions remain (access, long‑term maintenance, funding of construction and removal if features fail). Bishop and town staff said those are appropriate questions for later phases: the CPC request would fund study and design so the town and stakeholders can identify feasible solutions and responsibilities. After public comments and a CPC procedural hold for follow‑up, the Select Board voted to support the CPC application and encouraged coordination with Conservation and Natural Resources during study and design.
