Dare OKs $500K for Southern Shores’ Sand

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

SOUTHERN SHORES — Dare County commissioners unanimously agreed Monday to pay for half of the proposed Southern Shores beach nourishment project from the county’s sand pumping fund, capping the amount they are willing to provide at $500,000.

Estimates in January had the cost at between $700,000 and $800,000 to hook up to the project this spring in Kitty Hawk.

County manager Bobby Outten noted that since the initial projection by Great Lakes Dock and Dredge, the county’s contractor for the Duck, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills sand pumping, the estimate for Southern Shores’ portion has grown to around $950,000.

The beach nourishment fund has been used to cover about half the cost of the other nourishment projects on the northern beaches, Outten said.

“The town council has not yet decided to do it, but has authorized the hiring of the same project manager as the county and the other three towns,” said Southern Shores town manager Peter Rascoe.

Rascoe said at a council meeting last month their portion of the funding could come from several sources, including the town’s fund balance or by continuing to provide money that is equivalent to amounts budgeted for projects set to be finished at the end of this fiscal year. Less likely would be borrowing the money and paying it back with a tax increase.

A public forum was held the day prior with more than 200 people in attendance, and a majority expressing their support for the project.

Coastal Planning and Engineering had already been hired at a cost of about $45,000 for the engineering and design work for the town and to submit permit applications with state and federal regulators.

In a separate contract, the town will pay the firm $34,000 to put together a profile of the town’s entire beach.

Rascoe said the late decision by Southern Shores to be included in the Kitty Hawk portion of the project was due to acute erosion north of Kitty Hawk Pier at the end of last summer and early fall.

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