(click and read the above)
Residents of the Town of Kill Devil Hills would do well to head over to the above website and do some reading and research before they allow their town council to seek beach nourishment funding through a federal 206 project, as proposed by their former town mayor, Ray Sturza. In brief and simply put, a 206 project consists of the town getting Army Corps of Engineer approval for nourishment, and pays for their project themselves, and then crosses their fingers that the federal government will grant reimbursement.
The 206 idea is on the town's agenda for Wednesday night and it appears the new board may be ready to go, "full steam ahead" in committing the town to the $18 million project, with the hope that the feds "will/might" reimburse them, even if the sand does wash out to sea.
Problem is, as EyeonDare sees it, Kill Devil Hills may be rushing into the hog wash (oops ocean wash), too soon. Residents should, at the very least, encourage the town to wait and see how the Nags Head project reacts to its first major storm. So far, that project, which has already lost one-half of its sand to the sea, hasn't really been tested.
No doubt, the council will try and tell everyone that the project will take up to three years to get underway (federal sources say to plan on six years) and "we" should get started "now". However, they should also be up front with how much "start-up costs' the town's hired engineer will be charging...monies that will be lost if nothing else is done. So, EOD suggests that anyone who plans to attend the meeting should bring their gas masks...and expect lots of smoke to be blown their way.
In short, if someone doesn't put the brakes on what is about to occur on Wednesday night, taxpayers in the Town of Kill Devil Hills could be seeing property tax increases as high as those now being paid by some of Nags Head's residents.
The agenda and beach nourishment details for the Town of Kill Devil Hills' Wednesday meeting can be viewed here. Beach Nourishment Agenda.
"In 1999, Congress attempted to change the law to limit federal assistance to 35 percent of the cost of a new federal beach project; however, that effort was not successful. Given current budget limitations, it is likely the federal cost share contribution will be reduced in the future." - (Source: North Carolina Beach & Inlet Management Plan - April 2011)
1 comment:
"Congress – through an earmark authorization requested by the district’s
member of Congress – has placed the federal taxpayer on the hook for $22.7 million annually over the next
50 years for this beach maintenance (a total of $1.1 billion)."
We did not get this $22.7 million dollars from the feds. This was an interesting piece, well-footnoted. But it doesn't seem particularly relevant. No federal funds, great sand compatibility, no steep plunges, looks like benthic life is doing just fine. Maybe a hurricane when you're 80% finished is the best thing that could happen.
Two comment - 1) you measure from the toe of the dune out to 12 foot deep before you start, then measure/survey again at the end of the project and every June after that. We paid for 4,615,126 cubic yards of sand. In November, we measured 4,713,927 cubic yards out to 12 feet deep, with + or - 3% measurement error.
2) One of the issues described in the report was access to the beach. Some states have private beaches, but in NC, there is a public trust doctrine that allows the public a right of passage along the beach. Our justification in telling some property owners in South Nags Head that they had to move their homes was that these homes blocked the public's use of the beach. If you want public beaches in North Carolina, this public trust doctrine is very important, and it is under serious attack right now, right here.
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