Posted on August 20, 2025
Sand will pour onto Palm Beach’s Midtown and South End this coming season after the Town Council approved a pair of resolutions tied to two major projects.
The first resolution unanimously approved during the Aug. 12 meeting allows Town Manager Kirk Blouin to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Atrium Condominium. That document will grant the town the beach access needed to replenish the dunes on the coastline south of the Lake Worth Beach Pier.
“This is a true team effort on the part of both the town and its citizens in the South End, so thanks and recognition to you all,” Council President Pro-Tem Lew Crampton said.
The Town Council also greenlighted a resolution that would set aside over $3 million to pay for some of the sand placed as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-led Midtown Beach renourishment project to replace the sand lost to Hurricane Nicole.
Here the latest on the town’s coastal management efforts:
Town cements beach access agreement with the Atrium Condo
The agreement with the Atrium marks the conclusion of a dispute that began last December, when the original Phipps Ocean Park Beach Nourishment and Dune replenishment project was split in two after the city of Lake Worth Beach withdrew a beach access agreement it had with Palm Beach.
The end of the agreement meant that sand destined for the coastline south of Lake Worth Beach Pier was stockpiled at the park until the town secured access, which happened in June following a meeting between the town staff, the Atrium Condominium Association and the Citizens’ Association of Palm Beach.
Expected to start sometime in November, the project will see trucks transporting sand from Phipps Ocean Park to the Atrium’s property, where it will be shoveled onto a conveyor belt and dumped on the beach. From there, another truck will collect the sand and place it at the target location.
Coastal Manager Sara Gutekunst noted that the memorandum offered the condo multiple levels of oversight.
They include pre-construction assessments, daily vibration monitoring with weekly reports sent to town and condo officials, and post-construction surveys upon the project’s completion and one-year after that, according to the memorandum.
The town also will reimburse the Atrium Condominium Association for all costs related to the project, Gutekunst noted.
Town staff told the Town Council they’ve received the easements required to commence the Midtown Beach nourishment project. Pictured above, an excavator moves sand at Midtown Beach Wednesday February 23, 2022 in Palm Beach.
Palm Beach collects easements required for Midtown Beach nourishment project
The Aug. 12 meeting also saw Town Engineer Patricia Strayer announce that the town had acquired the temporary easements needed for a Midtown beach nourishment project scheduled for January.
Spearheaded by the Army Corps, the project would replenish the coastline from Seminole Avenue to Hammond Road.
Originally, the project was at a standstill because the Army Corps requires a perpetual easement from every property owner within the targeted coastline, which would convert their coastline into a public beach.
But in July, the Army Corps announced new official guidance that allows the town to use temporary easements for areas not under a perpetual easement for federal beach nourishment projects started before 2027.
The catch: the town must pay for the sand placed in the areas under a temporary easement.
Strayer said her team has collected temporary easements from all six outstanding property owners, including The Breakers resort.
All that’s needed is for the town to provide the funds for the sand placements in those areas by Aug. 22, Strayer told the council.
“We didn’t think we were going to get this project,” Public Works Director Paul Brazil told the council. “Her crew have put in a lot of effort, and she pulled this out of nowhere.”
