I’m glad we have something in place — we take it in good faith and we’ll see how it goes. The next hurricane is coming.”

Kevin Curt, of the East Beach Improvement Association

It’s a good policy, I think, for both the town and the residents. It identifies the concerns that East Beach has (and) gives the highway department some flexibility.”

Westport Town Administrator James Hartnett

The next storm is coming. When it does, Kevin Curt hopes East Beach’s seasonal residents are taken care of.

Curt, the president of the East Beach Improvement Association, said Thursday that he is cautiously optimistic about a new interim cobbling policy approved by the select board Monday evening.

The policy spells out what the highway department will do with cobble displaced during storm surges, and came about after town workers moved many tons of material off the road following several winter storms late last year and earlier this year. Most of that cobble came from the south (beach) side of the road and was hauled away to other places in town, a move Curt said violates state law and specifically, the state’s Wetlands Protection Act (WPA).

It also created angry lot owners, who said the town’s actions left them few options other than purchasing new material to replenish what was taken.

“You stole my rocks,” one woman said pointedly at a select board meeting after one of the storms.

Though the new policy gives the highway department some leeway in using cobble as it sees fit and notes that the town’s first priority is to “secure the integrity of the road and prevent further erosion,” it dictates that the cobble will be pushed to the south side of East Beach Road, and left for the residents to take back.

“It is understood that work during and after storms can be hazardous and emergency operations take precedence,” the policy reads. “But it is the intent of this policy to remove material form the roadway and deposit the material on the southerly side of the roadway nearest to its point of origin. Lot owners shall be responsible for spreading the over wash material once it has been pushed to the southerly side” of the road.

“It’s a good policy, I think, for both the town and the residents,” town administrator James Hartnett said. “It identifies the concerns that East Beach has (and) gives the highway department some flexibility.”

Curt and town officials had been going back and forth on the policy for months, and the approved version adds language Curt said was missing from the original — references to relevant law, and the town’s legal responsibilities with respect to the management of the beach and the road.

While it states that residents need to apply for any necessary permits or approval with the Conservation Commission, Curt said that’s not necessarily a factor to the 48 or so lot owners on the beach side. Over the past several years all but one, he said, have filed for permission with the conservation commission to replenish their lots. As long as they have that, he said, no further permitting is needed.

The policy will remain in effect until the select board adopts a beach management plan, or otherwise repeals the policy. Curt said he will be watching the progress on that plan in the coming months, and hopes the town will assist the owners with infrastructural work he believes could all but eliminate the worst of the cobbling.

“What I’d love to find is a way to get the town and the DEP a way to replenish that beach beyond sea grass and sand,” he said, referencing rocks along the south side of the road or some other barrier that would impede the over wash's path onto the road.

“It would be a huge undertaking and a lot of money,” he said.

Until then, he’s watching and waiting: “I’m glad we have something in place — we take it in good faith and we’ll see how it goes. The next hurricane is coming.”