In light of a $33,000 fine for the unpermitted rock formation – a seawall as per the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – at Sprague’s Cove, Marion Town Administrator Paul Dawson and the Board of Selectmen answered resident Sherman Briggs’ request for disclosure on who performed the unpermitted work and who authorized it.
During the January 3 selectmen’s meeting, Briggs asked the selectmen and Dawson for the name of who was responsible for the work that resulted in the fine, and Dawson and selectmen all agreed that no one knew who it was.
In an article dated October 5, 2014, however, The Wanderer reported that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed in a letter that the Department of Public Works performed the work.
On January 17, Dawson told Briggs it was, in fact, the DPW.
Dawson said the 1993 plans for stormwater remediation at Sprague’s Cove called for the placement of riprap, as erosion was severe in the area of the dyke.
“The DPW, in an attempt to preserve that … dyke, continued what’s now being called a seawall,” said Dawson. “Essentially, it’s rocks…” This occurred in 2013, he stated.
Dawson maintained that there was no malintent, and that continuing the rock wall for stormwater mitigation was part of the 1993 plan.
The Town, Dawson said, was unaware that the area was under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and it was never anyone’s intention to circumvent any rules and regulations.
Over the course of time, he continued, whatever maintenance there was at the cove was done by an annual meeting of the Conservation Commission and DPW Superintendent Rob Zora.
“I think everybody at the time thought that they were operating under that … maintenance plan,” said Dawson.
Zora was concerned that the DPW was being “thrown under the bus.”
“That area has always been under the Conservation Commission,” said Zora.
“I don’t think the DPW should be thrown under the bus for any work that we did there…. It’s a town issue. We need to take care of it.”
Dawson said the Town was still in talks with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, hoping the $33,000 “mitigation,” as the Corps refers to the fine, will somehow be mitigated itself.
By Jean Perry