Posted on July 19, 2024
The Army Corp of Engineers offered Oak Island Town Council a deal last month that it couldn’t pass up.
As part of its bi-annual dredging of the Wilmington Harbor Inner Ocean Bar, the Corps will have access to a lot of sand, something Oak Island can’t get enough of in recent years. That project is scheduled to go out for bid in September and Oak Island was presented an opportunity to purchase some of the sand for bargain prices.
Robert Keistler, a project management section chief with the Corps, asked council at its June meeting whether the town wanted to take advantage of its dredging project and enter into a contract to purchase some of the sand that will come out of the Wilmington Harbor navigation channel.
“We’re getting the speed bumps out of the channel,” Keistler told council. “We always try to put (the sand) as a resource for adjacent beaches. While we’re there dredging, if there is more material and an opportunity for someone else to get some material, we’ve done that in the past. A memorandum of agreement that allows us to take non-federal funds to dredge more material from our channel, that helps us … and puts more material on your beach, that helps you.”
Keistler said the project’s $6 million budget could dredge up to 1.5 million cubic yards from the channel, and Oak Island would be able to buy as much 300,000 cubic yards of sand while also saving a large amount of money on transportation costs.
“Our intent is we dredge until we run out of sand or we run out of money,” said Keistler. “We try to maximize the efficiency of our dollars to get the most sand out of the channel for navigation. While we’re there cutting our grass, if you’d like us to cut yours while we’re there, we can.”
One dump truck typically can haul roughly 10 yards of sand. With Oak Island potentially getting 300,000 cubic yards of sand through a nearby pipeline dredge, Keistler said the town would save thousands of dump truck trips.
“It’s way more efficient to get material on the beach through a pipeline or hopper dredge as it would be to haul it in,” Keistler said.
The project is slated to go out for bid in August and once contract negotiation begin, Keistler said the town will have a better idea of what the potential prices for sand will be and can make a decision then on its next move.
“The town will be able to say ‘I’d like to play poker with you or not play poker,’” said Keistler. “We need to execute a memorandum of understanding and a letter of intent, but it doesn’t hold you to it. To me, it’s a kind of a win-win for both of use. If you do participate, we get more out of our channel, you get more sand on your beach.”
Oak Island already is slated to receive some of the sand from the channel dredging for its beach renourishment efforts and has money budgeted as part of a master plan. The additional sand, on average, would add about 200 feet wide down the beach in the areas where it’s delivered.
Dredging wil finish in April 2025
Previous Town Manager David Kelly told council that $3 million generated from the sand tax already was budgeted for the Wilmington Harbor dredging, which would cover the beach from Norton Street to 71st Street. Additional sand the town could receive from the harbor dredging could take care of 71st Street thought 34th Street, Kelly said, and contribute towards the larger $40 million master plan.
“We recommend working with (the Corps) and for them to extend as far as we can go with whatever sand is available,” said Kelly. “We’ve already had some conversations about establishing how we’re going to tie these things back in (with the master plan) … so really, this is sand that would come first that would actually be part of the master plan going forward. This is less sand that you would have to account for through another source.”
Council unanimously agreed to accept Keistler’s offer and enter into a memorandum of understanding for the dredging project. Councilman John Bach called it a “net-neutral” decision because the sand will be needed, regardless.
“We’d need less sand on other projects,” said Bach. “It is unquestionably the case that the Corps project would produce sand that would be far more economic for us than taking it from 10 miles offshore. That’s the basic premise of this. It sounds like a bargain.”
While the initial dollar amount and sand quantities will be locked in, Kelly said there’s always the possibility that the Corps comes back with an even larger volume that originally anticipated.
“The town utilizes as much sand as we can possibly get a hold of,” Kelly said.
The window for the dredging contract is Nov. 16 – April 30. Some sections of the local beaches will have to close once dredging begins, but Keistler said the Corps plans to schedule weekly meetings with Oak Island and Caswell Beach officials and the contractor whether council accepts the offer or not.
