DEP Seeks Yirell Beach Management Plan Update

By Adam Swift

The Department of Environmental Protection wants the town to make some adjustments to its beach management plan for Yirell Beach.

Town Manager Tony Marino said the DEP was not satisfied with the old plan and was asking that the town update it.

“We’ve submitted the initial winter management plan to them, and we will continue to work with them,” said Marino. “That will get us through the winter months with some of the prep work we do down there.”

Marino said the town has hired a wetlands scientist to work on the plan, which will be submitted to the DEP by May of next year.

Marino said some of the issues the DEP is looking at include how the town has used the extra sand that builds up against the wall to create mounds to protect against flooding, and how the town rakes the beach.

“Some of these things they didn’t think matched up with the Wetlands Protection Bylaw,” said Marino.

The town manager said the issues were minor and would be addressed in the updated plan.

“Our plan hasn’t really been updated in 10 to 15 years, and I don’t think the DEP ever really took a good look at it,” said Marino. “It was approved locally by our conservation commission, but now the DEP has gotten involved and so they want to tweak it a little bit.”

In other business, Marino said he took part in a meeting about the potential extension of the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway from East Boston into Winthrop with project manager Civic Space Collaborative.

“What we have to do is review the progress on the East Boston side of the project with their construction and see where they are at,” said Marino. “We can make all the efforts we want on our end, but if we don’t have the connection piece with East Boston (it wouldn’t work).”

Marino said there will be a follow-up meeting with the DCR and MassDOT to find out where they are with their planning and the next steps for the project. He added that the town will also continue looking at some grant opportunities for the greenway.