Posted on January 10, 2025
Oak Island made a last ditch attempt to secure sand for one of the town’s three beach renourishment projects at a special meeting held Jan. 3.
Town council unanimously approved a contract proposal with Weeks Marine Inc. (WMI) for an estimated $33.5 million to have 1.1 million cubic yards of sand dredged from an offshore site and placed in the middle section of Oak Island’s beach.
The town initially requested an original volume of 1.4 million cubic yards of sand, but WMI responded it couldn’t move that much for the money Oak Island was willing to spend. Council called the special meeting to approve a proposal for 20% less volume at the same rate of $20 per cubic yard of sand.
Town Manager Kathyrn Adams told council WMI didn’t appear interested in the idea, but that it would dredge the suggested 1.1 million cubic yards of sand for a new rate of $25 per cubic yard. Should WMI reject the proposal at the original rate it submitted in November, Adams told council that she spoke with Town Attorney Lydia Lyvelle about pursuing possible legal action against the company.
“We’ll have options,” Adams said. “I will assume that they will uphold and honor their initial bid to the town. I think we’re going to assume that the vendors will honor their bid and move forward.”
Ciullo: in WMI’s interest to honor contract
WMI’s proposal was submitted Nov. 11 and is good for 60 days, which prompted the special meeting. Oak Island currently has three beach renourishment projects in different stages of development, with only Lockwood Folly on the west end set to start moving sand any time soon. The town entered into an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers last year to purchase up to $6 million of sand from its Wilmington Harbor Inner Ocean Bar project for the east end of Oak Island’s beach, but that hit a snag after dredging bids came in way higher than initially expected. The Army Corps is planning to rebid its project out in the spring in hopes of starting up when the dredging window opens in November. Council has around $40 million for its beach renourishment efforts, leaving the town approximately $33.5 million for its own offshore dredging project.
Even though Adams expressed confidence that WMI would honor its original rate, some council members weren’t as sure. Councilman Mark Martin said the town is trying to stay within its budget by proposing a reduced volume, but isn’t overly optimistic that WMI will accept it.
“We’ve already gone to them and asked for a creative way to lower their costs,” said Martin. “When we reduced the volume of sand, their response was, ‘We’ll just increase the price of the unit cost.’ That shows no willingness whatsoever. We really had to come in and take this chance, and I really thinks it’s a chance.”
Councilman Bob Ciullo said something clearly changed with WMI over the past few months that led to a change in the unit price. Legally, he said it would be in WMI’s interest to honor the contract, but past experiences have taught him that situations like this can go any number of ways.
“I’m not sure what happened,” Ciullo said. “Perhaps they have additional projects stacked up behind it to where $20 is not attractive, but $25 is sure attractive. Our attorney believes we can enforce that $20. However, they then become a hostile vendor, and I’ve dealt with that situation before and it’s not a pretty thing. They do have reputational risks should they decide not to accept our proposal, and this puts them in jeopardy on a national platform.”
Rebidding the project is a possibility
Martin said he expects the town will have to rebid the project all over again, like the Army Corps of Engineers had to do. Doing so also leaves the town at the mercy of dredging prices that show no signs of coming down any time soon.
“I would say (WMI) rejects it,” said Martin. “If we have to rebid, then we rebid. That’s on the table. We discussed it when we were told that bids came in way over budget. You are betting on what the future looks like.”
Adams said Oak Island is not alone when it comes to rising costs associated with scarcely available dredging services, and rebidding the project is a possibility.
“There are limited large dredging companies out there,” Adams said. “They’re busy because a lot of beaches are dealing with this. The same thing happened to the Corps. We would likely be bidding out similarly to the Corps, probably in the March, April time-frame with the hopes of doing something in the November to April of next year time-frame.”
Lockwood Folly dredging is being conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers and it should start soon, placing 65,000 cubic yards of sand on Oak Island’s west end, said Adams. Dredging along Oak Island can only take place between November 16 and April 30 due to turtle nesting restraints.
On Nov. 16, 2021, Oak Island received $20 million in matched funds from the state for the town’s beach nourishment efforts. Town staff has been working with Raleigh-based engineering firm Moffatt & Nichol since 2023 to meet federal and state requirements and secure leases from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for the offshore site.
