Posted on July 15, 2024
Ocean Isle Beach town staff recently updated commissioners on the proposed Jinks Creek Maintenance Dredging Project, including funding details and the board’s options to move forward or not.
The Ocean Isle Beach Board of Commissioners during its June 11 meeting discussed the updated projected project cost, time frame and the current status. The project was only discussed; no action was taken by the board.
The project, if approved, will allow for the dredging from the Intracoastal Waterway near the Odell Williamson Bridge, east to Jinks Creek Waterfront Grille and west to Asheville Street. If approved, the dredging is expected to occur in late 2025 or early 2026.
In May 2023, Ocean Isle Beach property owners Stephanie Weatherspoon and Randy Simmons asked commissioners for help in performing an engineering study for potential dredging of an area of Jink’s Creek. They said a majority of affected property owners who responded to them are in favor of the project.
The project proposal, sent last April by “Undersigned Property Owners along Jinks Creek” stated that the reasons for pursuing the dredging project are to enjoy deep-water access activities and to stop and reverse the filling in of silt and muck within Jinks Creek.
“The dredging we propose would provide for a reasonable navigable channel [as determined by an engineer] in the creek, so that there would still be shallow water at low tide for wildlife and birds to feed and no impact on the existing marsh grass and vegetation that we all enjoy,” the proposal states.
Simmons approached the board again in June, explaining dredging would increase property values. An Ocean Isle Beach resident since 2000, he said he has observed Jinks Creek worsen over the years, noting that not dredging the area could be a “downside” for local recreational economics.
“Jinks [Creek] has been filled in drastically over those years and continues [to],” he said.
Engineering agreement with Ardurra GroupCommissioners during their Sept. 12 meeting voted to approve a fee proposal and professional services agreement for the proposed Jinks Creek Maintenance Dredging Project. The $290,610 agreement came out of the town’s Fiscal Year 2023-2024 general fund, Town Administrator Justin Whiteside said. “The reason that the [$290,610] didn’t come out of the dredging fund was because it wasn’t an approved dredging project,” he added.
The September proposal and agreement were made with Ardurra Group North Carolina. Ardurra will conduct the engineering, permitting, surveying, testing services and bidding for the project.
Ardurra’s initial proposal states the project is estimated to take roughly 22-and-a-half months with dredging taking about four-and-a-half months.
Whiteside in June said engineering expenditures for the project to date are $21,718. He explained that about $100,000 of the $290,610 will be used for the bid process, construction monitoring and after project surveying.
Ardurra has crafted preliminary drawings, quantities and dredge depths and, Whiteside noted, the firm is now working to develop the project narrative and getting the project permitted.
Proposed funding Whiteside told the board that the updated, preliminary opinion of probable project cost is approximately $4,105,000, including the $290,610 engineering fee.
The full and final project cost is still unknown but, if the project is bid and approved, the project cost and the Ardurra agreement cost will be split between affected property owners.
The town would have to pay the cost of Ardurra’s services if the commissioners deny the project or if the property owners back out. If commissioners grant project approval, the town would be reimbursed by the affected property owners.
Property owners expect the project price tag to range anywhere from $4 million to $6 million, as stated several times during discussion of the project.
Simmons in September said property owners he has spoken with said they are willing to pay more than the $6 million for the needed project since the state could cover 75% of the cost.
The town has not yet applied for grant funding but the project is eligible for partial funding through the State of North Carolina Shallow Draft Navigation Fund grant, which could cover 75% of the cost. This would not include the $290,610 for the Ardurra agreement, Whiteside noted.
Whiteside told commissioners that the town will not apply for the grant until the board approves the project. “Until we’re ready to move forward, we’re not going to apply for the grant,” he said.
The grant is reimbursement based and the town could pay for the entire project first, then collect money from the property owners. “I wouldn’t recommend us trying to be bill collectors but if you wanted to try and get a certain amount upfront, I think that was the way the initial canal assessment was done on the natural concrete canals,” he said.
Whiteside said there are no drawbacks to the town approving the project, applying for the grant and using town funds to pay upfront. The town would still receive the 75% reimbursement from the state, he added.
Mayor Debbie Smith said the town has previously required property owners to pay a “high percentage” of the assessment costs before the project started. “And if they don’t pay it, it counts as a lien on the property,” she added. “Like property taxes.”
Whiteside said the updated preliminary cost could change from fees imposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Future dredging maintenance Town Clerk Casey Hayes said the board needs to decide on moving forward with the project. “Once we get a clear picture of if that project is going to be able to move forward, then the next step is the establishment of the special assessment district,” she said. “And then, after that, it would be assessing it.”
The assessment will be a one shot assessment but, she said, future maintenance dredging to Jinks Creek will be on a five-year interval like the natural and concrete canals.
For previous coverage on the proposed project, go to brunswickbeacon.com and type “Jinks Creek dredging” in the search bar.
