Posted on December 13, 2016
By Makenzie Holland, StarNews Online
Town officials are in the process of attaining a long-term solution to erosion issues along the east end of the island.
Town Manager Daisy Ivey said the town has been battling erosion for years, using various sandbagging and beach-fill projects to bring sand back to the beach and keep the ocean at bay. Sand from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ maintenance dredging has also been placed around the east end.
Yet efforts have fallen short as no protective dunes exist on the east end beach area and waves continue to creep up the beach, lapping against existing houses. Ivey said the search for a solution began years ago and in 2012 the town signed a contract with an engineering firm to begin preparing for a project the town decided was the best option: installation of a terminal groin.
Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith said the need for the terminal groin was placed “in the forefront of everyone’s mind” when Hurricane Matthew struck the coast in October, causing overwash and moving a “mountain of sand” onto roads.
“With no protective frontal dunes, that overwash did a lot of damage to foundations, porches, decks and those kinds of things,” Smith said. She believes the terminal groin will be a “big help” to erosion and shifting the town has on the east end of the beach.
The plan is to install a 750-foot terminal groin with beach fill approximately 148 feet east of Shallotte Boulevard. Ivey said the groin would help reduce or mitigate erosion along 3,500 feet of the Ocean Isle Beach oceanfront shoreline west of Shallotte Inlet, maintain the town’s tax base by providing long-term protection of property and infrastructure and help maintain the area’s existing recreational resources.
The town recently received a Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) major permit from the Division of Coastal Management for the project. All that stands in the way of the project being approved is a decision from the Corps of Engineers, expected sometime in January 2017.
The estimated construction cost of the terminal groin is $5.7 million, Ivey said. Smith said the town plans to pay for the project out of their erosion control beach fund and possibly some assessments to the most “directly affected” property owners.
If the project is approved by the Corps of Engineers, Smith said the town’s engineers will finalize construction drawings, put it out to bid and schedule work to start in November 2017.
Angelo Catucci, who owns a home on the east end of the island, said the terminal groin is a “long time coming.”
“I bought here in 2005, one of the selling points was that they were going to build a terminal groin,” he said. “It will be a wonderful thing if it happens, hopefully it will save our house.”
Source: StarNews Online
