News | Save Poppenesset Bay

October 2020

SPB Wins MA Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Coastal Resilience Grant!

Save Popponesset Bay (SPB) is the proud recipient of a Coastal Resilience Grant from MA Coastal Zone Management (CZM). This generous award for $426,000 will fund up to 15,000 cubic yards of trucked sand and beach grass for the Spit to be completed over this coming winter.

A condition of this Grant is that SPB MUST provide $186,000 in matching funds. We need your support NOW. This grant supplements donor contributions but does not replace your donation. Your annual donation is critical to our implementing this project as this grant work must be complete by Spring 2021, but the funds must be raised before the end of the year. Please DONATE and support our initiatives today to make your annual donation so that we can capitalize on this exciting Grant opportunity CMZ has provided us.

SPB is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1987 for the purpose of protecting and enhancing Popponesset Bay and the Popponesset Spit, the barrier peninsula and wildlife preserve that protects the Bay and surrounding communities in Mashpee and Cotuit. For more than 30 years, SPB has been managed and operated by a Board of neighborhood volunteers and supported by a wide range of stakeholders and partners including local government, businesses large and small, Mass Audubon Society, and many valued consistent donors.

Due to our strong partnerships and community relationships, SPB has worked to dredge sand to keep key navigation channels open, improve water quality, and protect and restore the Popponesset Spit. This dune restoration project will help mitigate barrier beach storm damage protection, help protect Popponesset Bay and surrounding properties, protect the inner channel system, enhance habitat for endangered species such as piping plover and least terms, and improve recreation.

This CZM Grant marks a major milestone in SPBs 6-year initiative to rebuild the Spit and expand the Outer Channel. Since 2014, the Spit has been in a dangerously critical condition. This funding will allow SPB to make significant progress towards expanding the Spit in advance of the Outer Channel expansion project. This is the second grant SPB has secured from MA CZM.

Outer Channel Expansion Project – Longer, Deeper, Wider
SPB continues to make progress towards our goal of expanding the Outer Channel leading from Popponesset Bay to Nantucket Sound. The goal is to extend the Outer Channel 250 feet while making the channel 2 feet deeper and 50 feet wider while also adding a catch basin to extend the channel life during the summer season. We hope to receive the final permit approvals by year end.

The Outer Channel dredging project will provide over 40,000 cubic yards of sand to be placed on the Spit to expand the outer beach and provide significant additional protection for the Spit dunes, channels and bay during storms and extreme high tides.

This dredging project will benefit all aspects of SPBs mission! Maintenance of the Spit with the dredged sand, safer waterways navigation, support for the Mashpee clean water initiative, and increased habitat for endangered species.

Thanks to our supporters, we have already received contributions earmarked for this dredging project, but we need to raise much more. If you would like more information about becoming a part of our Outer Channel Project, or are ready to become a contributor please contact Bob Hughes @ rwhughes00@gmail.com.

Thank you all for your continued support as we enter this exciting next phase of our mission.

Volunteer Opportunities

Now is the time to get involved in our community! SPB needs your help, we are all in this together. Below are the areas where we could use YOU! If you would like more information or are ready to get involved, please email Kathy kccramer@comcast.net or Marlene marlene.perkins@gmail.com.
Now is the time to get involved in our community! SPB needs your help, we are all in this together. Below are the areas where we could use YOU! If you would like more information or are ready to get involved, please email Kathy kccramer@comcast.net or Marlene marlene.perkins@gmail.com.

FUND RAISING: Raising money to support the work which SPB spearheads to maintain and improve the Spit and surrounding waterways, is of the utmost importance. We need people willing to dig in, join our team and assist in raising the funds that we need both for our annual expenses and our future Channel Project.

COMMUNICATIONS: We are in search of someone who would like to assist in communicating with our membership as well as the community. Preparing newsletter emails (using Constant Contact) and articles for the Peninsula Reporter. It is imperative that we stay in touch with our community and keep them informed. No experience with Constant Contact is necessary and training can be provided.

SECURITY: We have formed a committee that is currently working on our security issues that take place on the Spit. We are looking at what has gone wrong in the past and are working on a better plan for the future which we are hoping will be a joint venture with the Town of Mashpee and the surrounding communities.

EDUCATION: After having a tour of the Spit with a leader from Mass Audubon, there has been an interest in providing more educational programing. We are working on putting together a committee to plan and execute this type of events.

GRANT WRITING EXPERTISE: The government offers many grants which SPB may be able to benefit from. Please let us know if you, or you know someone who has, writing experience and can help us secure funding through grants.

NEW SEABURY VILLAGE AMBASSADORS: As an SPB ambassador you would attend your village’s annual meeting and events. Your primary goal will be to liaison between SPB and the community. Meet with other village ambassadors to determine the best way to get the community involved in our mission.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH: We need to reach out to the broader community, not just New Seabury and Popponesset. There are other neighborhoods that use our waterways, as well as boaters who come and use the Spit as a destination. We need to reach out to boat owners and homeowners in Mashpee who have docks to inform them about the work that SPB does and to hopefully get them involved and supportive of our mission. We also want a working relationship with local businesses such as the Marina’s, Rideaway Adventures, Yoga on the Beach and any others that seem relevant.

SPB Board Updates

On Saturday evening September 12th, the Save Popponesset Bay Board gathered for an outside, socially distant dinner to honor out-going president Mike Oleksak. Mike has tirelessly served SPB and the community for over 20 years. Mike will remain on the board and assures us that he is not going anywhere. After 20 years he felt it was the right time to step down as the SPB leader. A bell, with the inscription:
“Mike Oleksak 20+ Years of Leadership Save Popponesset Bay”,
was presented to Mike as a token of our gratitude for his many years of service to SPB and our community. Thanks to Mike’s vision of “preserving our happy place for generations to come”, our mission remains strong.

Mike has left huge shoes to fill. So huge that it will take two of us!
Kathy Cramer and Marlene Perkins are serving as the co-leaders of the SPB Board. Working with Kathy and Marlene is an amazing team of community volunteers who will continue the work of protecting and enhancing Popponesset Bay and the Popponesset Spit.