The public is invited to attend a meeting tonight to hear the results of the Braddock Bay Restoration Feasibility Study, performed by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
The ecosystem restoration plan, in conjunction with the US Environmental Protection Agency, State Department of Environmental Conservation and Town of Greece, addresses two main issues in the bay: continual erosion of the existing emergent marsh, and a wetland plant, cattail, which has greatly expanded its reach in Braddock Bay.
Josh Unghire is a restoration ecologist with the US Army Corps of Engineers, and planner for the project.
He says the cattail has driven out much of the plant species that were in the Bay, and has taken away a lot of the usable habitat in the marsh.
And they estimate the annual rate of erosion would be between .4 acres and 1 acre per year if nothing is done.
Unghire says the plan includes a structural barrier over part of the mouth of the bay to reduce erosion, and excavating a series of channels within the cattails to open up the existing marsh and restore open water areas that have been filled in by cattails.
He says the Corps of Engineers will share some of the results of the study, and plans for moving foward with the 9 million dollar project during a public meeting tonight from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Greece Town Hall.
The public is invited to attend and offer their ideas and feedback.