Plans to restore a former salt marsh at Round Hill Beach hit a snag after the Board of Parks and Recreation voted against moving forward with the project.

Board member Jim Bosworth said the decision came down to a litany of concerns the board has with the project, including the risk of construction activity damaging the beach’s septic system and causing a leak.

Also on members’ minds was the risk of upsetting an existing piping plover habitat, currently located on the beach perimeter and partially on private property. Pushing the habitat further onto town beach property could result in a loss of beach area, he said.

The board also worried about being forced to open Round Hill Beach to the general public. Currently, the beach is open only to Dartmouth residents, but the restoration project is being funded by state and federal grants which sometimes contain stipulations that targeted areas must be open to everyone, Bosworth said.

If passed, the project would have restored an 11.6-acre salt marsh filled in by the wealthy Ned Green in 1928. The project included removing 72,000 cubic yards of sandy material to recreate the marsh, vegetation restoration, and the replacement of a now non-functioning culvert to provide necessary tidal flow.

Michael O’Reilly, the town’s environmental affairs coordinator, said he was already working on solutions to the board's issues before the project was voted down. As the project would have been funded by about $4 million in state and federal grants awarded to the project, one of which is set to expire in 2019, he said he's not sure what the next steps are at this point.

Funding includes grants intended to mitigate the effects of the 2003 Bouchard oil spill, and plans to clean up New Bedford Harbor, which is still recovering from polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination.