CIA Brief | 2024 Spring
President’s Memo
Kelly Upham
We kicked off 2024 as we often do… with a winter storm that left our park and beach almost unrecognizable and our seawall in need of some repair, which you will read more about in this newsletter. As usual, we made the park passable but still urge caution until we complete our major cleanup and repairs after the storm season. The CIA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and pays for all improvement activities for the parking lot, park, seawall and beach through memberships, parking fees, and donations. In order to prepare for the costs facing us this spring, we have increased our membership fee to $85 and would also like to ask you to consider including a donation with your renewal; or you can donate online HERE. Please also keep an eye out for additional contribution opportunities as we start getting estimates for the work. We thank you in advance!
We hope you were able to see some of the filming for the movie Hello Beautiful in and around our park and local neighborhoods. The film, due out later this year or early 2025, is based on the book Walk Beside Me by Christine Handy, and it will star Tricia Helfer. We were happy to host the film crew for a day, both in the park and on the beach. While we wish everything had been in its pre-storm condition, they seem to have made the best of it!
In addition to park cleanup, this time of year we start preparing to open the parking lot, hire summer agents, vote on our board of directors and, most importantly, welcome your membership renewals. You will be notified by email that your membership expires on 3/31 and you will be provided with a link to renew online. We encourage you to renew with a credit card via PayPal (at no additional cost to you) to help us reduce the manual time necessary to process checks. This will help us to keep things moving at the lot.
None of this would be possible without you, so THANK YOU for your continued support!
Deep Dive: Behind the (Sea)wall at Preston Beach
Sheryl Levenson
While most associate the CIA with our parking lot at the corner of Seaview and Atlantic avenues, our organization also owns and maintains Beach Bluff Park and the Sun Circle (covered in greater depth in previous newsletters, accessible on our website) so all may enjoy these beautiful and special places next to Preston Beach. However, as with any oceanfront property, this comes at a price, both financially and in terms of human effort. We feel it is important for all of you to know where your membership and donation dollars are spent, and what the CIA’s board and committee members deal with each day so we can all enjoy and responsibly sustain this important asset in our community.
This article is meant to be a deep dive into exactly what that effort entails, so all may understand the considerable work and cost that go into maintaining the seawall, which has ramifications beyond just the park and abutting properties. As you read this article, you will notice some repetition, some technical information, and a huge amount of gratitude for your past, present, and future support.
In 1991, the CIA was gifted the land now known as Beach Bluff Park. While all of us on the board at that time were thrilled, we knew we had a large amount of work ahead of us and we were up for the challenge. We wanted to create a beautiful open space that everyone could enjoy. And we were able to do so, with a lot of help as we were challenged along the way.
In 2007 our concrete wall collapsed, causing disruption to both the park and Atlantic Avenue, a major thoroughfare connecting Marblehead and Swampscott. With the support of many generous donors, we raised over $200,000 to construct a new wall. While we would have preferred another concrete (retaining) wall, the Department of Environmental Protection would only allow a revetment wall, like the one we have, as we were not protecting a home. That view has now changed, but it would be extremely cost-prohibitive to create such a wall now since the current system is in place.
What is a revetment wall?
A revetment wall is a sloping structure built on either an embankment or a shoreline or in front of seawalls. It has a distinct slope, while a concrete retaining wall is almost always vertical and considered the strongest and most durable choice. Since we already have a revetment wall in place—which does have its benefits—we must continue to expend the cost and effort to maintain this revetment system.
Various departments in Swampscott Town Hall have been quite helpful. We asked Gino Cresta, Director of Public Works, to tell us more about how our seawall affects Atlantic Avenue, some of the problems with a revetment wall, and how our beach has changed over the years. Here is his response:
The seawall protects Atlantic Ave from erosion. With coastal flooding becoming more prominent, without the wall the park and then the roadway would eventually end up in the ocean. This would take many years to happen but is a distinct possibility.
A revetment wall, as opposed to a concrete retaining wall, has numerous voids throughout the wall. These voids allow for ocean water to pass through during periods of high tides. The ocean water exiting the wall does not necessarily pass through the voids that it entered through. This resulting hydrostatic pressure causes the revetment stones to shift and ultimately be displaced.
It appears to me, as a result of climate change, over the years the high mean water mark is getting closer to the seawall.
North Shore Marine had been hired to build our revetment wall in 2007 and has done the many repairs on it over the years. Kevin Pelletier of North Shore Marine was also asked about the more technical aspects of our seawall, and offered the following:
Stone revetment assemblies are one of the most economical methods of shoreline stabilization and protection available. Stone revetments are widely used and accepted by Federal, State, and local authorities as a proven design to provide protection to waterfront areas which are at risk of erosion and scour.
Revetment designs vary depending on the location and particularly the velocity zone. Design components typically consist of armor stones (exterior stones sized to the location), bedding stone (smaller stone to maintain the established slope), and a graded slope with either heavy gauge geotextile fabric or graduated stone to prevent migration of fine material through the open face of the armor stone. Locations subject to heavy wave action are generally designed with a rough surface to help break up and distribute the forces of wave action.
Challenges: The components of the CIA revetment system that contribute to the operational expenses include the severe impacts of south/south-easterly weather events, the overall design height of the revetment, and the elevation of the land-side grade. The top of wall height and upland grading elevations were predetermined by land use requirements, which unfortunately contribute to the upland maintenance and yearly reconstruction of the upland areas. Where making changes to the elevation of the wall is not an option, an “outside the box” approach to minimizing storm impacts may need to be explored and considered.
Maintenance: The average seasonal maintenance items on the beach side currently require one to three days on the beach with a machine and a crew placing chink stones and replacing larger stones that have been displaced. It is typical that supplemental angular chink stones are imported from the quarry to minimize the use of the rounded stones typically found on the beach, as these round stones tend to act like ball bearings and do not lock together. The frequency of this work ranges from yearly to every couple of years and is dependent on the storm season. Another maintenance item we have witnessed is the displacement of the top layer or layers of stone from the revetment. This happens less frequently and is associated with long-duration severe storms. This situation poses a significant risk to the integrity of the wall during heavy storm conditions and could potentially lead to failure. The repair scenario for this is more complex due to limitations on topside access and the size of stone.
Mr. Pelletier also explains that the “upland landscaping is vulnerable to severe storm conditions with the weakest area being the ocean facing stairway. This funnels the wave action up and over allowing a near continuous flow of water which scours the sand and vegetation.”
As you can see, yearly maintenance to the wall will likely remain a requirement, and the reasons to do so are many. We’re grateful to Kevin Pelletier, Gino Cresta, and the Town of Swampscott for their work over the years and for helping us to understand the issues. We felt it was important for you, our members, to appreciate what is involved, and why. In a world that is dealing with shrinking coastlines and global warming, it literally takes a village, and the costs will increase indefinitely.
What can you do?
The first step is awareness. We will always keep you fully informed of the complexity of our situation, and why we do what we do, so you can understand the stakes and costs involved. Your involvement and support are crucial to our ongoing efforts, and this includes the contribution of your time and talents or your financial support, or both if this is possible based on your personal circumstances.
We truly couldn’t do it without you!
Sightings
Diana White, Swampscott resident
One Saturday morning while walking my dogs by the Beach Club I saw a family of Killdeer running around. Two adults and two extremely small chicks were darting back and forth across the street. Another woman and I protected them from passing cars. After she continued on her walk, I stayed and watched the birds’ strange behavior. One adult kept returning to a sewer cover and with trepidation I approached and knelt on the grate. There swimming in the muck was a tiny hatchling. My hand wouldn’t fit inside! Two other dog walking people came to help me, but their hands were also too big to fit through and too weak to lift the grate. Along came my neighbor with his 9-year-old son. The boy was too squeamish to reach in the sewer and pluck out the floundering chick, so Dad used his cellphone to call the Swampscott police and Dan the wildlife guy.
A police officer arrived quickly, and after he put on some sort of magical gloves, he marched right over to the grate, bent over, and lifted it off! He then scooped the teeny life out of there and it collapsed in his hand. Dan the wildlife guy arrived, and wasting no time, took the little soaked speck home to warm under some lights. It did not look promising.
Later in the morning I texted with Dan. Great news! The baby was dry and calling for Mom. I told Dan that the other two babies were just as tiny and would not be flying yet so they still had to be in the Beach Club parking lot since Killdeer nest on the ground. Later in the afternoon Dan came to the parking lot carrying the chirping baby in a little container. Hearing their chick’s cries, the parents appeared, and Dan left.
I went down there an hour later and was thrilled to see the empty container and three teeny tiny cotton balls with legs near their mom. They all had had an exhausting day.
I am so grateful to Dan and the Swampscott police who saved the day not only for the Killdeer family but also for me, and for the 9-year-old boy who was very relieved to hear that the baby was okay.
Monday morning headcount—all three babies and two parents accounted for.
Sky Watch: Vernal Equinox 2024
Jim Keating
As the amount of daylight increases as we approach the beginning of spring, we can take the following into account.
First: Meteorological spring occurs from March 1-May 31. In our civil calendar, spring and fall are the three-month periods between the warmest three-month period, which is summer; and the coldest three-month period, which is winter.
Second: Astronomical spring occurs when the Sun crosses the Celestial Equator and enters the Celestial Northern Hemisphere. This date can vary. This year is a leap year, with an extra day in February, so spring occurs on the 19th of March. Spring can also occur on the 20th or 21st.This is due to Earth’s elliptical orbit.
Third: Ecclesiastical spring occurs on March 21st. This date is fixed by convention. In Western Christianity, Easter will occur on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox. The date of Easter changes because moon phases are not the same month to month. This is why in the Judeo-Christian tradition Passover and Easter happen at the same time every year due to the lunar calendar. In the Greek Orthodox tradition, Easter falls on the first Sunday, one full week after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox, which is on May 5th this year.
Please join us on Tuesday, March 19th, at the Sun Circle on Beach Bluff Park in Swampscott at 6:45 a.m. to celebrate the Vernal Equinox and enjoy the ceremony led by Lisa Kawski and Kampa Vashi Deva.
CIA Board Member Dossier: Meet Charya Peou
Interviewed by Julianna Thibodeaux
JT: Tell us about yourself. Where did you grow up? How long have you lived in Marblehead and/or Massachusetts?
CP: I made my home in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and moved on after I went to college. I traveled around a lot after school going back and forth from the west coast to the east coast, eventually landing in Boston where I resided for 15 years. After starting a family, the city seemed too stifling, and I longed for something closer to the water. This brought me to the shores of Marblehead.
JT: How did you become involved in the CIA?
CP: Since I live so close to Preston, I frequent the beach as often as I can. It is practically my backyard. One day, I came across the CIA during an event they had at the park and spoke to a few of the members about their mission. I was intrigued by all the work and efforts they put in, all executed by such a small team. I felt at that moment that I could make a difference and attended my very first meeting a few weeks later. That must have been close to eight years ago!
JT: What are your official roles and primary responsibilities on the board?
CP: I serve as First Vice President on the CIA board and like most board members, I wear many hats. I facilitate most of our monthly meetings and I am on a few committees, including Education, Summer Operations, and Fees. I’m also great at weeding.
JT: What is your “day” job, and what are the intersections between what you do professionally and your CIA responsibilities?
CP: I have been an artist all my life and currently I am Creative Director for a team of in-house designers, photographers, and animators. At first, I used my skills to help the CIA develop some flyers and brochures, but eventually, this led me to the Education Committee where I assist in developing the monthly newsletter. We are also in the process of updating our website and planning more education events for the summer and fall. Aside from the design work, my professional experience has helped me to focus on the CIA mission and how best to accomplish that from a strategic perspective.
JT: What are the primary challenges smaller organizations such as the CIA face?
CP: As a small organization, our need to maintain the park and seawall can come at a hefty price. We are conflicted between keeping parking fees low and accessible for all and generating enough revenue to pay for storm damage or to secure funds for much needed upgrades. We need to generate more visibility for our cause and get our members to be more engaged in the effort so they can continue to enjoy the beach with their families.
JT: What are the CIA’s strengths as an organization?
CP: The CIA’s strength as an organization is its people. The CIA is comprised of some of the most dedicated, talented, and passionate people I have had the honor to meet and work with. Each person brings so much of themselves to each and every effort out of love for the park and the belief in its mission.
JT: What are our opportunities for growth?
CP: We need to bring in a new generation of individuals and thinkers who can bring about change. You can start by attending our monthly meetings or eventually serving on the board.
JT: What is your vision for the CIA?
CP: Currently, we have been operating very tactically and I would like to start thinking more strategically and solidify a 5-10-year plan. As evident from all the recent storms, we need to account for the unknown and plan a more secure future for Beach Bluff Park and Preston Beach for generations to come.
JT: Please share a favorite memory of the park and/or beach!
CP: My favorite memories are simply sitting on the beach and watching my daughter and her friends ride the big waves on her giant rainbow-colored inflatable unicorn float.