Posted on February 7, 2019
North Topsail Beach and its neighboring communities are getting $5 million in help to rebuild their beaches.
According to the Coastal Review Online, Resource Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Winston-Salem received a grant from the Division of Water Resources last year which will be used to form a committee and prioritize a list of projects for Topsail Island, including in North Topsail Beach, Surf City and Topsail Beach.
Between the three towns, there are 23 proposed projects which will cost an estimated $40.2 million, according to the Coastal Review. Each town proposed a beach re-nourishment project, with the total cost of beach re-nourishment alone estimated at $157 million.
Among the list are eight projects proposed by North Topsail:
- $4.5 million for dune restoration to restore the 100,000 cubic yards of sand moved by Hurricane Florence.
- $11 million for a reef-maker ecosystem for New River Inlet estuary protection.
- $200,000 for an 11-mile berm push needed due to the breach of the town’s dune system.
- $115,000 for stormwater conveyance at Green Street, Old Village Lane and Utopia Street.
- $100,000 for a living shoreline at Osprey Drive.
- $76,000 for a public works stormwater outlet and permeable pavement.
- $30,000 for sandbagging at Goldsboro Lane, a town-owned street, to help stabilize and protect the roadway and infrastructure.
- $23,000 for overwash remediation at Old Village Lane.
The $5 million is an initial amount to help jump start the long list of projects. At the top of the proposed list, the Resource Institute notes another $36 million will be needed to complete them all, though they did not elaborate on where the rest of that funding would come from.
In addition to these projects, North Topsail estimated a total of $85 million is needed for beach renourishment to restore and repair the beach and dunes, though the dune restoration and Goldsboro Lane sandbagging are noted as being included in the beach renourishment as is some of the cost associated with berm development.
Representatives from the Resource Institute met Jan. 24 with the Topsail Island Shoreline Protection Commission (TISPC), according to the TISPC agenda. The meeting explained how the project plan would be carried out. A task force will be formed with the Resource Institute and representatives from each town and the TISPC. Town officials were asked to submit nominations for task force members by Feb. 15.
According to NTB Clerk Laura Oxley, the town will be discussing its nomination for the committee at this week’s Board of Alderman meeting, scheduled to be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
This task force committee will then be tasked with reviewing each project and ranking them to submit to Raleigh for approval, the Coastal Review reported. The Resource Institute submitted a draft agreement to North Carolina and plans to form the selection committee in the next few weeks.
Source: JDNews.com
