NAHANT — The town is preparing to meet the arrival of summer weather this weekend by opening its public beaches and holding the 10th Annual Spring Beaches Cleanup.
“Usually our target date is Memorial Day weekend,” said Nahant’s town administrator Antonio Barletta.
However, with temperatures forecast to rise above 80 F and sunny weather this coming weekend, Barletta said, the town decided to ramp up the efforts and prepare the beaches for a sooner opening.
The DPW has been working hard to open these public spaces for summer, said Barletta. That includes removing winter barriers at the access points, reinstalling stairways down to the beaches, cleaning and raking the beaches, putting trash barrels out, installing beach showers, and opening public bathrooms.
Every year in April, the town plants new dune grass, especially around the edges of the access points on Short Beach, Barletta said.
On Sunday, May 22, Nahant Safer Waters in Massachusetts (S.W.I.M.), the town’s environmental group, will hold the 10th Annual Spring Beaches Cleanup at Short Beach and Doggie Beach from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. All those willing to participate are encouraged to join.
Participants will meet at the Lowlands Parking Lot for registration, where they can get gloves and trash bags. S.W.I.M. also encourages participants to bring their own reusable gloves and bigger buckets to collect trash at the beach to reduce the use of plastic bags.
After the cleanup, all the trash will be dumped into larger trash bags near the central crosswalk at the Lowlands Parking Lot to be collected by the DPW.
The S.W.I.M.’s “Adopt a Beach” cleanup team meets every second weekend of each month to collect trash at the beach during low tides.
Alena Kuzub can be reached at [email protected].
