By John Pacenti
Manalpan’s first-ever Beach Committee meeting found members grappling with what — if anything — to do about the condition of arguably the town’s most vital resource.
The Oct. 22 meeting included Town Manager Eric Marmer and the three-member committee: Commissioners Cindy McMackin, Dwight Kulwin and Elliot Bonner. The Beach Committee will make recommendations to the Town Commission about Manalapan’s stretch of sand.
Its first meeting was lively with McMackin asking pertinent questions, Kulwin showing his knowledge of beach renourishment and Bonner looking to move — if even a little bit — toward a solution.
Marmer injected a dose of hard reality. When McMackin asked if anybody knew the exact condition of the beaches, the town manager said, “They’re not in a good place.”
Manalapan is not alone. Coastal communities in Palm Beach County are grappling with beach renourishment and whether it’s worth the money. If Manalapan decided to spend $8 million over the next four years, Marmer warned, “A storm can come through and wash all of that away. ... It’s a complete gamble.”
Kulwin said there are measures the town could take in the short term that are not expensive and noted “beaches have big cycles” where sand comes and goes over decades.
“So, I think it’s important to get some perspective and be sure that this is not a cyclical problem, (but) a real problem,” Kulwin said.
Some communities allow for beach wrack to develop, forgoing raking and allowing the seaweed, grasses and invertebrates that wash ashore to cover the sand. Kulwin said such beaches — the Florida Keys are good examples — are less expensive to maintain for municipalities.
Kulwin said beach wrack attracts all types of birds and other wildlife but it is not groomed sand seen in postcards. The community, he said, needs to weigh in on what type of beach it wants.
The committee did decide to recommend Dr. Peter Bonutti — husband of Vice Mayor Simone Bonutti — to serve as a liaison with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Palm Beach County. The recommendation was approved at the commission meeting later that morning.
Peter Bonutti proved full of knowledge and told the committee the real problem was the South Lake Worth Inlet, also known as the Boynton Beach Inlet. He pointed to a 2010 study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that blamed the waterway for beach erosion to its north.
The county manages the inlet, every six years dredging sand that has accumulated and placing it along the beach in Ocean Ridge, south of the inlet. There is a curved barrier that keeps some sand from moving to the north of the inlet.
“According to the federal government, they are literally destroying our beaches here in Manalapan — specifically Manalapan — which is where the turtles nest, which is critical to our wildlife,” Bonutti said.
Marmer said he would also research how much it would cost to bring on a consultant to assess the beach. He said he would have the information at the next meeting. He welcomed Bonutti’s help.
“I just need to be clear that we have to not only hire a consultant, we would have to hire a coastal management person here,” Marmer said. “I don’t have the staff or the capacity to handle all these issues.”
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