Erosion from ocean waves at two sites in Falmouth is threatening public infrastructure and the town will need to acquire some property rights to address the problem, according to Town Manager Nathan Poore.
One erosion location is at 44 Old Mill Road, which is a dead-end street off Foreside Road that has a publicly owned wastewater pump station nearby. The other location is 30 Shoreline Drive near Mackworth Point, where erosion is threatening the public road in between Payson and Phillips roads.
Two locations in Falmouth are experiencing shoreline erosion that is threatening public infrastructure. Contributed / Town of Falmouth
To undertake stabilization work at both places, the town would need to acquire some property rights, Poore said at a Town Council meeting last week.
“We could look at either the town owning it outright or the town obtaining some sort of construction, in perpetuity maintenance agreement of maintenance easement,” Poore said.
The town is keeping an eye on a few other locations where public infrastructure may be at risk, but “these two that you’re looking at tonight, they need our action,” he said.
Both privately owned properties bisect a public road, with a section that sits closer to the shore and a section that sits further inland, said Town Engineer Justin Early.
In 2023, environmental engineering firm Wright-Pierce partnered with S.W. Cole Engineering, another engineering firm, to conduct a slope stability study along Shoreline and Bay Shore drives, which both face Mackworth Island, and came up with a recommendation for mitigating the damage that includes using both “hard” and “soft” erosion stabilization techniques. Hard stabilization uses materials like stone, and soft stabilization often relies on plants or landscaping to prevent erosion.
The cost estimate for rehabbing both locations would be around $280,000, if the town were to fully fund the construction.
The council took no action at the meeting, but Poore said that he would soon be back, likely seeking their input on “substantial engineering and design money, at least, and possibly a strategic plan or schedule.” He said town staff will continue to look for grant opportunities to help pay for the projects, but he was not optimistic they will find any.
Councilor Tommy Johnson expressed interest in stabilizing a longer strip of land than what was outlined in the presentation to make sure the issue doesn’t reoccur, citing an “economy of scale to fix a larger tract” of land.
Council Chair Jay Trickett said he had expected the project would cost more, and he would be interested in treating a longer strip along the impacted areas to “make sure that it’s the right solution, longer term, at least.”
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