There is no debate, Port Jefferson Country Club at Harbor Hills is a few years away from becoming an underwater retreat providing unparalleled aquatic views of the Long Island Sound for village residents as they enjoy cuisine from The Grille at Waterview. The village owned property is precariously cascading over the crest of a bluff–a steep cliff or promontory that is partially composed of sand and clay–and towers approximately 100 feet high over Port Jefferson Beach East. Damage from erosion and upper-level drainage have resulted in the bluffs’ slow retreat, and without immediate action, the Village of Port Jefferson could suffer an imminent loss of a major socioeconomic asset.
Veris Media Group walked along Port Jefferson Beach East with Mayor Lauren Sheprow and Treasurer Stephen Gaffga to discuss the extent of the damage to the bluffs and her administrations’ proposed solution. Pointing at a trench scaling down the side of the bluff, Mayor Sheprow said, “[…] I can’t look at this and say I know what happened here.” She suggested that it might have resulted from surface runoff upland, but then walked back the statement, saying, […] It doesn’t look like it came over the top and flushed everything down. […] It looks like it breached inside, below and out.” Whatever the cause, timber terraces, biodegradable coil logs, and deep-rooted vegetation from Phase One of the East Bluff Stabilization Project had been heavily damaged by recent storms.