Yesterday we had the pleasure of hosting a visit by our representative, Joe Courtney. He came to the marina to inspect the town’s completed dredging project, which was conducted last year by the Army Corps of Engineers. Congressman Courtney played a major role in Clinton’s procurement of the $1.8 million of funding necessary to carry out the project.
The dredging project was unique because the quality of material in the Clinton Channel is high grade sand (not a lot of sharp stones or shells). Hammonasset Beach has been eroding over the past few years, so this project aimed to hit two birds with one stone. Over 50,000 cubic yards of sand was pumped from the Clinton Channel by pipe to Hammonasset Beach. This was an effort to repair areas of the beach most impacted by the erosion. However, it is estimated that in order to repair the erosion at Hammonasset Beach would require approximately 500,000 cubic yards of material.
This was the first major attempt by any agency to counteract the erosion at Hammonasset Beach. As a result of the funding that Congressman Courtney secured, the marinas are able to attract certain customers that were “off-limits” before. For instance, in June, an 80’ sailboat is traveling from Martinique and staying in Clinton for a couple of months. This will be the largest sailboat that has berthed in Clinton Harbor for more than a single evening in the past few decades. Its owner would not have been interested if the channel had not been dredged.
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The funding that Congressman Courtney obtained for our town has made the Clinton waterfront area more attractable to boating enthusiasts who wish to visit Clinton. It has also enabled us to start to counteract the erosion at Hammonasset Beach, which will become a larger issue as time goes by.
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