Rockport was awarded a 2.8 FEMA grant for the repair of a portion of the seawall that was damaged during a 2018 storm.  In order to obtain the FEMA grant money the Town has to match 25% of the funds.

Article M of the warrant articles for the April 6, 2024 allowed the town to appropriate and borrow the matching funds.  To pass Article M, it required a 2/3 vote.

We organized and launched a campaign to educate the Rockport voter about Long Beach and the importance of maintaining the seawall.  As a result, Article M passed!

The Vote

The actual Town Vote was 431 (75% YES) and 142 (25% NO). To pass, a 2/3rds majority vote was needed. 

• 193 Rockport residents living at Long Beach voted YES  and

• 238 additional YES votes from other Rockport residents

If we had only the non-long beach Rockport residents – the 238 voters we would have lost AND If we had only the 193 long beach owners voting, we would have lost

The key was the education to entire town – both long beach owners and non-long beach owners.

Update received from Selectmen Don Southard January 2025

The Request for Proposal (RFP) draft is through lawyer review. The plan is publish the RFP, make a vendor decision and begin work after the summer season

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Update received from Selectmen Don Southard September 2024

The Request for Proposal was drafted in July 2024 and submitted to the Town’s attorneys for review. As of September 16, 2024, it is still under legal review. I have asked when it will be completed, and we were told that the Town was not yet given an estimated completion date by the Town’s attorneys.

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Update from DPW on Long Beach Seawall Repairs FEMA Project from March 2018 Storm as of 3/20/2024

• The Environmental Assessment (EA) is complete

• As part of the EA, CZM has requested additional beach nourishment be completed alongside the project and has offered assistance in securing funding for this effort

• Permitting was started under this process and will be continued

• The project is now obligated by FEMA

• That means that 75% of the total project cost will be covered by FEMA under the approved scope

• That approved scope include repairs at 3 locations damaged in the 2018 storm and replacing the stairs at the Gloucester end to be faced landward instead of parallel to the beach

• Approximately from #64 to #78 Long Beach and the wall and return wall at the Gloucester end

• The project was estimated in 2019 at $3,683,915.31

  • Based on this initial estimate:

  • FEMA contribution is $2,762,936.49

  • Town Match is a total of $920,978.82

  • Town approval of $37,500 previously is included in that match amount

  • If project cost changes (within the same scope) these numbers will change

  • Based on cost escalation seen on the Back Beach Revetment project, 25% inflation and a 10% contingency were added to the request that is being brought to Town Meeting

• Resulting in a request of $1,300,000

• Construction will be conducted in 2 phases, beginning as early as Fall 2024 and resuming the following Fall

• The town will be pursuing contract for the remaining permitting and engineering services soon.

• This does not need to wait for Town Meeting because FEMA has obligated the project.