LI pols call for Stirling Harbor dredging

Greenport Village Mayor David Nyce and other local legislators are again calling on the federal government to dredge Stirling Harbor, but a decimated budget for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers makes that unlikely for now.

The harbor, where sand has been moving off Sandy Beach into the opening, has narrowed the channel and made it more shallow. Only one boat can get through at a time.

A spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed that the Greenport dredging is not scheduled, adding that large commercial ports take priority. The village and town have been petitioning the agency for three years, said Southold trustee Dave Bergen.

Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) and Legis. Edward P. Romaine (R-Center Moriches) attended a news conference Monday and said the federal government should have a regular maintenance plan.

Commercial fishermen and two busy marinas filled with recreational boats use the harbor, said Nyce, as well as Eastern Long Island Hospital, which recently built a dock to bring in patients via boats.

If the federal government won't do it soon, Nyce said, he may ask fellow trustees to fund a multiyear plan to complete the work themselves.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) are petitioning the federal agency to dredge the outlet.

"Under the House Republicans, agencies like the Army Corps are woefully underfinanced," said Bishop spokesman Jon Schneider.

According to Bishop's office, the budget for the Army Corps of Engineers was slashed from $5.445 billion in 2010 to an estimated $4.762 billion in the 2012 budget now under consideration.

Bishop got a nearly $500,000 dredging project moved up for Montauk Inlet, where the work started last month.

"Our waterways are also our roadways," said Romaine, referring to the commercial fishing that takes place on the two forks.

Officials also said there has been erosion underneath the base of a monument at Sandy Beach alongside the harbor's mouth. The monument, dedicated in 1986 to "those who lost their lives at sea," was paid for by the state.