After months of increasingly contentious correspondence, Edgartown town counsel has rejected The Trustees of Reservations’ claims that the land nonprofit does not own or have any responsibility to maintain the eastern side of the Dike bridge and aging bulkhead.
In a letter sent to the board Monday, Trustees attorney Dylan Sanders reiterated the organization’s longstanding position that the Dike Bridge is not under Trustees’ ownership, and therefore it is not responsible for funding any repairs.
The select board Monday sent a letter to the conservation commission, urging members to require the Trustees put a portion of oversand vehicle sticker sales toward the bridge’s estimated $4.3 million repairs.
After inspecting the Dike Bridge bulkhead this past weekend, the town of Edgartown has called for urgent repairs to the eastern, town-facing side of the bulkhead.
Edgartown Conservation Commission members have raised concerns regarding the number of vehicles the Trustees’ allow on their trails and whether the organization would be able to secure sufficient staffing for the summer volume.
Oversand vehicle trails on Chappaquiddick have been partly reopened after a weekend of closures to protect nesting piping plovers, the Trustees of Reservations announced. All trails to Cape Pogue remain closed to vehicles.
The new Dike Bridge is complete and now open for pedestrian traffic. Gates are being installed today and in a week, the bridge will be open to limited off-road vehicle use.
“They’ve done a great job,” said Edgartown highway superintendent Laurence A. Mercier. “The contractor G. M. Berkley did excellent work. We had a state inspector down on Wednesday and he said there are no problems. The bridge will be open soon.” The bridge was built at a cost of $182,256 and paid for by the state. It passes over Poucha Pond.
