The National Weather Service‘s Newport office continues to host hurricane preparedness forums along the coast over the coming months.

Hurricane season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30, with August, September and October typically being the most active for tropical systems in North Carolina.

Dare County Emergency Management Director Drew Pearson and National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Erik Heden are scheduled to host forums at 6:30 p.m. July 28 at Hatteras Civic Center, 10 a.m. July 29 at Kitty Hawk Town Hall, and 2 p.m. July 29 at Dare County Emergency Operations Center.

Forums are also scheduled for 6:30 p.m. July 30 at Havelock City Hall and 6 p.m. Aug. 17 at Oriental Town Hall.

Individual links to register for the forums as well as recordings of past presentations are at weather.gov/mhx/hurricanecommunityforums.

These public discussions include a presentation from a meteorologist on hurricanes and the impacts on eastern North Carolina. 

“We will go over why you should never just focus on just the category of the storm, what the hurricane path track means, the various impacts tropical cyclones can bring and why you should NEVER let you guard down, even after the storm passes,” organizers said on the website. “We will also cover the hurricane outlook for the year while emphasizing that it only takes one storm to make an impact on your life.”

This is the eighth year this office has offered the program, which has already been offered this summer in Ocracoke, Pine knoll Shores and Washington.

Duke Energy has agreed to ax its wind lease off the coast of Brunswick County, instead pledging to reinvest funds into grid enhancements and additional power generation.

The U.S. Department of Interior announced Monday that the Charlotte-based company will terminate its offshore wind lease in the Carolina Long Bay wind area roughly 22 miles offshore, south of Bald Head Island.

“This settlement allows Duke Energy to refocus $129 million in ways that directly benefit our customers and communities in the Carolinas,” Duke Energy Carolinas’ Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe stated in a release. “Under this agreement, Duke Energy will reinvest nearly $129 million in additional generating capacity, which may include advancing new nuclear and natural gas generation, and grid enhancements to strengthen reliability, support continued growth in the Carolinas and keep costs as low as possible.”

Related: Carolina Long Bay wind energy firm takes Trump buyout

The company’s decision leaves the more than 110,000-acre Carolina Long Bay wind energy area now tenant-free, as driven by President Donald Trump’s push to dismantle renewable energy projects and replace them with fossil fuel and nuclear power.

In March, TotalEnergies accepted a $1 billion federal buyout of its wind energy leases off the New York and North Carolina coasts, including roughly half of the Carolina Long Bay wind energy area. The France-based global energy company said it would invest the refunded money in a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Texas and other fossil fuel projects.

Duke Energy paid $155 million in May 2022 to lease the other half of the offshore wind area.

“President Trump’s vision of unleashing affordable, reliable American energy for our country’s communities and using common sense to put the American people first is being implemented,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stated in Monday’s announcement. “Duke Energy will now be able to convert a national security concern into projects that will lower the costs for its customers in North Carolina and surrounding states.”

Projects in the Carolina Long Bay wind energy area were estimated to generate up to 3 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power about 657,000 homes, and provide more than $4 billion in net economic impacts.

Though the now-dead projects were years away from providing offshore-generated electricity to land-based power grids, advocates of wind energy argue it is a stable, predictable source of energy.

“We are disappointed to see another offshore wind farm opportunity taken off the table for North Carolina,” Southeastern Wind Coalition President Katharine Kollins said in a release. “At a time when electricity demand is surging and grid reliability is under increasing strain, we need to add energy options, not remove them. It is unfortunate that the federal government continues to pick winners and losers in the energy space, especially when we’ve seen strong performance from the four existing offshore wind farms currently operations in U.S. waters.”

There are still active offshore wind leases along North Carolina’s northern coast, off the shores of Kitty Hawk. Those leases were purchased a few years ago by Avangrid Renewables and Dominion Energy, the latter of which is wrapping construction of a 2.6-gigawatt project nearly 30 miles east of Virginia Beach.

Courts have recently overturned the Trump administration’s actions to quell offshore wind development in the United States, including an order last December to stop work in five offshore wind energy areas on the East Coast, including Dominion Energy’s Hampton Roads, Virginia-based project.

But those rulings have not hampered the administration from continuing to target offshore wind projects.

Since announcing its deal with TotalEnergies, the Interior Department has solidified similar agreements with a handful of other companies to terminate their leases off the coasts of California, Maine, New Jersey and New York.

In early June, New York’s attorney general was joined by state attorneys general from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont in challenging TotalEnergies’ federal buyout.

Chris Herndon, chapter director of the North Carolina Sierra Club Chapter, in a statement urged state Attorney General Jeff Jackson to “review the legality of this ‘deal,’ and consider joining other states in challenging the Trump administration in court.”

“Duke Energy and Donald Trump are worsening the energy affordability crisis that’s plaguing North Carolina families and small businesses throughout the state,” Herndon said in a release. “It’s a disgrace that Duke Energy would walk away from an affordable, reliable offshore wind project that our state was counting on to create family-sustaining wages for workers and fixed-price clean electricity to power our state’s economy.”

Pasha Feinberg, an offshore wind strategist with the international nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, called Duke Energy’s agreement with the federal government a “lose-lose proposition.”

“We need more electricity, not less,” Feinberg stated in a release. “Canceling clean energy projects is self-defeating. Paying off companies so they will abandon them is just ludicrous. The Trump administration is wasting our money paying companies not to produce energy. It’s long past time for the Trump administration to end its war on new energy so that customers’ bills won’t keep rising and our nation can meet its growing electricity demands.”

Featured Image

A snapping turtle climbs from the water for a snack recently at Sandy Run Park in Kitty Hawk. The park at 4343 The Woods Road offers public access to the Kitty Hawk Woods Maritime Forest, a half-mile nature trail with a pair of gazebos, canoe or kayak access, a nature observation tower, a catch and release fishing pier, picnic tables, benches and interpretive signage. While Sandy Run Park is home to friendly turtles, visitors are asked to not feed them. Photo: Kip Tabb

Dare County officials invite residents, business owners and others with a stake in the unincorporated areas to participate in a brief survey to help inform the development of a resiliency strategy.

Through funding from the North Carolina Resilient Coastal Communities Program, which is administered by the N.C. Division of Coastal Management and supported by the N.C. General Assembly and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Dare County is assessing vulnerabilities and identifying priority actions to address both short-term and long-term risks. This planning effort provides a roadmap for future investments that strengthen safety, equity and environmental protection.

“As a low-lying coastal community, Dare County faces growing challenges from flooding, hurricanes, erosion and sea-level rise,” according to an item in the county’s February emailed newsletter. “A resilient future means reducing these risks while protecting homes, businesses, infrastructure, natural resources and economic assets that are central to the county’s identity.”

Officials define resilience as a community’s ability to prevent, withstand, respond to and recover from disruptions caused by natural hazards.

Dare County is home to six municipalities: Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head and Manteo. Unincorporated areas include Avon, Buxton, Colington, East Lake, Frisco, Hatteras, Manns Harbor, Martins Point, Mashoes, Rodanthe, Salvo, Stumpy Point, Wanchese, Waves and areas just outside of municipalities.

Officials said the plan for unincorporated areas of the county builds on the resilience strategy that was completed for Hatteras Island in 2022.

Officials said that community participation is essential to the process. “Local experiences and perspectives help ensure the resiliency strategy reflects countywide priorities and positions Dare County to pursue future funding for implementation.”

Those who want a say in unincorporated Dare County’s resilience are encouraged to complete the survey by the end of March.

For more information, contact Dare County Grants and Waterways Administrator Barton Grover at Barton.Grover@DareNC.gov.

First in a new commentary feature, Tabb’s Trails.

Verdant and beautiful, coastal North Carolina boasts hidden treasures of nature. For the most part, the maritime forest reserves and parks that are found throughout the area require no special equipment or knowledge to explore, just a willingness to spend some time enjoying the environment’s beauty and the unexpected surprises it offers.

Sandy Run Park on the The Woods Road in Kitty Hawk is a 16-acre town park. The trail is a completely level, half-mile loop around a pond and marsh that is half boardwalk and half gravel and packed soil.

For birdwatchers, it is a small slice of paradise with a remarkable variety of birds in the trees and feeding in the ponds. For families with children, it is as good an introduction as there could be to the beauty and fascination of the natural world.

Spring has returned to Sand Run Park in Kitty Hawk.

Regular visitors for the past four or five years, the osprey pair have been busy repairing their nest that was destroyed in a storm last September.

As the weather warms, the winter residents leave, and there is perhaps no winter bird as ubiquitous as the yellow-rumped warbler. It’s rare to see one after April 1.

By Outer Banks standards, it was a snowy winter with one storm covering Sandy Run with more than 6 inches of snow. Among the reeds in the marsh a downy woodpecker found a meal.

During spring, summer and fall, the waters of Sandy Run are most alive. If there is symbol for the park, it would be the yellow-bellied sliders. There are also large snapping turtles and an occasional painted turtle, but it’s the yellow-bellied sliders that can be seen everywhere in the ponds.

For families with children, lettuce is a great snack for the turtles.

With abundant fish, frogs and food, blue heron are regular residents, but they are not the only member of the heron family to call Sandy Run home.

Especially in the spring and summer, green heron perch on tree limbs and deadfall.

Woodpeckers have been working on the trees for years. Red-bellied woodpeckers are the most common, although downy woodpeckers are seen from time to time, as well as an occasional pileated woodpecker.

Talkative, highly visible and ever-present, tweeting cardinals are year-round residents.

In the summer, the dense foliage of a maritime forest surrounding a coastal marsh teems with life. The intense red of trumpet vines seems to attract pollinators in extraordinary numbers.

Part of Duck Pond Creek, Sandy Run is a catch-and-release-only fishing site with three kayak launches. The creek connects with Kitty Hawk Bay, although paddling to the bay includes a carry on foot across The Woods Road.

Reprinted from The Outer Banks Voice

Two of the four Dare County municipalities that are expected to partner on a 2022 beach nourishment project have given the green light for the Coastal Protection Engineering of North Carolina Inc. to move forward with the critical design and permitting steps needed prior bidding and construction of the project.

The Kitty Hawk Town Council and the Kill Devil Hills Board of Commissioners both unanimously approved a contract with the Wilmington-based firm Monday, while the Duck Town Council is expected to take up the contract on June 17 and Southern Shores Town Council will hold a public forum on June 16 before committing to the project.

Project Manager Ken Wilson told the Voice that over the next six to eight months, his firm will be providing assistance to the municipalities in the way of engineering design, environmental permitting and identification of offshore sand resources. The firm provided the same services for the four municipalities and Dare County as part their joint beach nourishment project in 2017.

“We’re going to have crews out there doing some additional investigations offshore,” Wilson noted, adding that in addition to a borrow site used for the 2017 project, there may be some areas that could have usable sand that are a little closer to the Southern Shores and Duck project.

“If we can identify those and if we can develop them into permitted borrow sites, it could potentially bring the cost of the project down,” he added. Final designs will also be drafted, taking into account any improvements that could be incorporated based on the results of the 2017 project.

As part of the 2017 nourishment project, nearly 4 million cubic yards of sand was pumped on 1.7 miles of shoreline in Duck, 1,500 square feet in Southern Shores, 3.58 miles in Kitty Hawk and 2.6 miles in Kill Devil Hills. Wilson estimates that the towns, working collaboratively, realize a 15 to 20% cost savings as well as improve the speed and efficiency in which project goals can be achieved.

“There are a lot of benefits that the four counties have seen by working together on this,” Wilson asserted. Once design and permitted are finalized, Wilson noted there will likely be a future contract in which his firm will develop bid documents and perform some construction oversight.

Beach nourishment projects are funded through a combination of funding from municipal sources as well as Dare County’s Beach Nourishment Fund.

With the reopening of Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve in Kitty Hawk and the Buxton Woods Reserve on Hatteras Island this week after closure caused by Hurricane Dorian damage, all but one North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve site is open to visitors.

Bald Head Woods Reserve on Bald Head Island remains closed to protect public safety until immediate hazards are addressed but Currituck Banks Reserve near Corolla, Emily and Richardson Preyer Buckridge Reserve near Columbia, Permuda Island Reserve near Topsail Island, Zeke’s Island Reserve near Kure Beach, Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort, Masonboro Island Reserve near Wilmington and Bird Island Reserve near Sunset Beach are open to visitors now.

Visitors should use caution when visiting these sites and be aware of the risk of potentially hazardous conditions associated with storm damage.

Grounded vessels have been documented on several reserve sites and visitors should refrain from disturbing these vessels to protect personal safety and respect vessel owners’ personal property while removal efforts are underway.

Updates will be posted on the Coastal Reserve’s website and via its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve protects natural areas for education, research and compatible recreation. Since its creation in 1989, the program has preserved more than 44,000 acres of unique coastal environments at 10 sites along the coast.

KITTY HAWK — More than 100 volunteers for two weeks this summer joined North Carolina Coastal Federation, the town, landowners and Dare Soil and Water Conservation District to plant nearly 10,000 plugs of black needlerush, a native marsh grass species, to complete the 600-foot Moor Shore Road living shoreline project.

The project was put in place to stabilize the shoreline along the historic Moor Shore Road in Kitty Hawk and build back lost marsh habitat.

The project began in December with the installment of seven vertical sills intended to slow waves and dissipate energy. The planning and construction of the sills was executed through a partnership of  property owners along the road, the town, North Carolina Department of Transportation and Dare County Soil and Water, according to the federation. This is the first living shoreline project in the state involving NCDOT.

After the sill was installed, marsh grasses were planted over the two weeks in July by volunteers from Better Beaches OBX, Outer Banks Running Club, North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island, a summer camp group from the Aquarium, 4-H Groups from Dare and Camden counties, River City YouthBuild of Elizabeth City, as well as community members.

The marsh grasses, which further dissipate the waves and hold the shorelines sediment in place, also serves as a habitat for wetland species like crabs, small fish and shrimp and improve water quality.

“The generosity from the volunteer groups saved the federation and the town of Kitty Hawk a great deal of time and money,” according to the release.”It also served as a great way to engage the community in the living shoreline project and help people understand the project’s value and importance.”

Ann Daisey of Dare County Soil and Water said in a statement that she’s happy for the many benefits this marsh sill will provide to the community, including providing wetland habitat for flood mitigation, wildlife and fisheries habitat, reducing shoreline erosion and filtering stormwater runoff.

“The funding partners and partnerships created through this project showcase a perfect example of what we can accomplish together, especially when it comes to managing the county’s natural resource concerns,” Daisey added. “I’m proud that the Dare Soil and Water Conservation District played a part in securing funds from the state’s Community Conservation Assistance Program for this great project.”

Learn More

• History of the Moor Shore Road living shoreline project
• Kitty Hawk Living Shoreline to Protect Road

In Kitty Hawk, the encroaching waters of Kitty Hawk Bay threaten to close Moor Shore Road, one of the oldest roads on the Outer Banks.

For lifelong resident Amy Wells, the rising waters and disappearing shoreline is something she has observed over her lifetime.

“Along Moor Shore road there were trees. My father had aerial photos, you could see there were trees out there. That was in the 1970s,” she said.

Moor Shore Road is a short but beautiful road that parallels Kitty Hawk Bay. One of the oldest roads on the Outer Banks, it is the route the Wright Brothers traveled to get from Bill Tate’s house in Kitty Hawk to their campsite at the base of Kill Devil Hill.

At one time the road was on the north end of a series of roads and paths that followed the shoreline of Roanoke Sound, connecting Nags Head and Kitty Hawk.

A United States Geological Survey map as early as 1876 shows a road paralleling Kitty Hawk Bay, and a 1938 state Department of Transportation map depicts Moor Shore Road.

More easily seen in the highway map, but in all of those early maps, one thing is apparent: there is a marsh or land between the water and the road.

The road is important even today. In November, it is part of the Outer Banks Marathon. In the summer, when traffic is backed up on the main roads, it is a welcome if brief respite from the madness of summer traffic. When ocean overwash from tropical storms or nor’easters close the main roads in Kitty Hawk, it is part of an emergency route that allows traffic to keep moving.

To protect the road, a living shoreline is being constructed.

Living shorelines deflect and dissipate wave energy through offset sills or breakwaters, allowing sediment to accrete on the landward side of the protection. As the sediment increases, grasses and reeds take root recreating the marsh that was lost. The plants of the marsh further dissipate wave energy.

Although an effective means of shoreline protection, there are limits to what a living shoreline can accomplish.

“The way that water is pushed into a system is critical. They’re not going to stop a 10-foot or 20-foot storm surge,” explained Erin Fleckenstein, coastal scientist and manager of the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s northeast regional office in Wanchese.

Hardened structures like bulkheads can be effective in certain situations, but they can create significant environmental damage.

Bulkheads work by deflecting wave energy, but do very little to dissipate the energy. Typically that energy goes to either side or in some cases, down. After a few years, land on either side of the bulkhead often shows significant erosion, or land behind a bulkhead is sometimes eroded.

Carlos Gomez of Coastal Engineering noted what he has seen with bulkheads.

“They put in a bulkhead and in five years they have no marsh,” he said.

It is an ambitious undertaking. At almost 700 feet, it is significantly larger than most living shoreline projects. The $270,000 cost of the project and how residents, federal, state and local governments came together seems to set this project apart from others.

“The number of entities involved in this, I don’t think I’ve seen this before. And I doubt many of us have seen it,” Kitty Hawk Mayor Gary Perry said. “And it all started with a homeowner that said it will also benefit the greater good and the public, so the public trust entering into this is not untoward.”

As a homeowner with property facing Kitty Hawk Bay on Moor Shore Road, Wells knew the marsh had disappeared and that the road was prone to flooding.

She had become aware of living shorelines as a method of shoreline protection from volunteer work she had done with the University of North Carolina Outer Banks Field Site, a precursor to the Coastal Studies Institute. The lessons stayed with her and as she witnessed the disappearance of the marsh, she came to the conclusion that a living shoreline would be the best way to protect her property.

“I had seen it through the UNC Field Site,” she recalled. “That’s how it all got started.”

One of the lessons she took from working with the field site was how important it was to engage the public.

“They had what seemed like a real incentive to do (projects) where there was a real public exposure. So maybe somebody else could see it,” she said.

And Moor Shore seemed like the perfect location for that visibility. She had made the decision that even if she was the only property owner on the road with a living shoreline, she was going to install one.

“If nobody else wants to do it, I wanted to try it. It’s kind of a visible piece, where people can see it, and if it works, maybe somebody else would see it,” Wells said.

She had, in the past, worked with Gomez, an engineer, and mentioned to him she felt her property would be a good candidate for a living shoreline.

Gomez was familiar with the concept of living shorelines but had not worked with them, however a 2015 North Carolina Coastal Federation seminar in Columbia convinced him Well’s idea was worth pursuing.

“After the workshop (Gomez) reached out to me to see if Amy’s property would be a good candidate for a living shoreline,” Fleckenstein said. “I said it could be, but would be more effective if we could work with the neighbors to extend it along that whole stretch of road.”

“Her property was (only) 75-100 feet wide,” Gomez said. “Talking to Amy, I said, ‘Maybe we can talk to other people.’”

“I could tell the man on the other side of me (north), he really didn’t want a hardened structure there,” Wells said.

Other property owners also signed on and the project was selected for a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cost share on living shorelines with private property owners.

With the NOAA grant in hand, Gomez and the federation made a presentation to the town of Kitty Hawk. The presentation went very well.

“We budgeted $180,000,” Perry said. The funds, he pointed out, are to protect access to properties that rely solely on Moor Shore Road.

“We’re saving the road, we’re not saving the property,” he said.

Although property owners were concerned about protecting land, a significant portion of funds for the project are dedicated to protecting infrastructure, which is how NCDOT became involved.

According to Perry and Fleckenstein, Kitty Hawk and the federation approached NCDOT about the project. There was interest, and for the first time the state’s transportation department contributed to a living shoreline as a way to protect a road.

“NCDOT is … contributing about $30,000 on the $270,000 project,” NCDOT Public Information Officer Tim Hass said. “We’re certainly at the table on this one, and we certainly have an interest in protecting the road and seeing how well this project works …”

Dare County also contributed to the project, Fleckenstein said, “An application was submitted to the Dare Soil and Water CCAP (Community Conservation Assistance Program) grant in August 2017 for additional cost share funds.”

With so many funding sources, some of the money Kitty Hawk has earmarked may not be needed, although it will remain available.

“Right now we’re coming in under that ($180,000 town grant) … If they should run short, we maybe can help with that,” Perry said.

The permitting process for the project has been unusually drawn out, something Fleckenstein acknowledged.

“It did have a lengthy permit process,” she said. “Part of the hurdle we overcame was there were a lot of moving parts and pieces. A lot of people involved and trying to keep everyone coordinated and moving toward the same end goal.”

After two years, though, the sills are being installed. With the nearshore protected from the full force of the wave energy, phase two will soon follow.

“The sills should be in place by March 2019 and marsh grass plantings will occur this summer and next,” Fleckenstein said.

KITTY HAWK — The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary of the Outer Banks is offering Feb. 28 to April 2 a 10-session boating safety course for new and recreational boaters.

The boating safety course, Boating Skills and Seamanship, will meet from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at Kitty Hawk Fire Station 13,
859 W Kitty Hawk Road. Tuition is $30 and includes the textbook and all course materials. Discounts are available for multiple family members.

The course will satisfy North Carolina Boating regulations that require boat operators, born after Jan. 1, 1988, to complete a boater safety course.

The class will review selecting the right boat, essential equipment, docking and anchoring, boat handling and seamanship, trailering, navigation and rules of the road, using and maintaining engines and electronics, knots, weather, communications and North Carolina boating regulations, according to the release. All classes are led by certified USCG Auxiliary instructors.

There will be a review and test at the last session but mentors will be on hand to ensure students have a successful testing experience.  Satisfactory testing outcome will result in the awarding of the National Association of Boating Law Certificate.

For information contact Keith Berntsen at keith.berntsen@gmail.com or 252-564-4142

The Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed civilian component of the U.S. Coast Guard and supports the Coast Guard in nearly all mission areas. The Auxiliary was created by Congress in 1939.

Featured Photo

Waves lap at N.C. 12 in Kitty Hawk at low tide Monday morning. Although part of N.C. 12, or the Beach Road, in Kitty Hawk has been repeatedly washed out during major storms of the past few years, this particular section showing damage from Hurricane Matthew has never been washed out before. The area damaged in the past is immediately south of this section. Photo: Kip Tabb

 Learn More

• North Carolina Department of Transportation’s N.C. 12 page

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

KITTY HAWK – This beach town in Dare County is still many months from a possible beach widening project, but municipal service districts that might help pay for it are coming into focus.

A proposed map depicting three districts was presented recently to the Town Council as the town considers whether and where it will levy additional taxes to help pay for pumping sand onto the beach.

Town Manager John Stockton emphasized that the map is not official until every property owner is notified, a public hearing is advertised and the council passes a resolution adopting the map.

It could be changed during that process. A public hearing is possible by the fall, Stockton said.

Flooding crossed the U.S. 158 bypass in Kitty Hawk during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Photo: Outer Banks Voice

So far, the town is working with the county and the towns of Duck and Kill Devil Hills to explore where sand would come from, how much would be affordable and the permitting process. The county provided Kitty Hawk with the money from its Shoreline Management Fund.

“Phase two is when the town starts obligating money in addition to what the county has,” said Mayor Gary Perry. “And at that point, we’re going to have to have the municipal districts set up and taxing for this project. We’ll have a better idea how much we need to tax.”

A probable scenario is that districts will pay additional taxes according to their risk to ocean overwash and flooding.

The preliminary map shows District A running from the oceanfront to U.S. 158 and including commercial properties. District B would include what is being called the ridge area and District C is the village to the sound.

Under a plan outlined in October, the Dare County Beach Nourishment Fund would provide Kitty Hawk with $13.2 million of the roughly $17 million it needs to pump sand onto its severely eroded beaches.

The Town Council has already approved an agreement, which basically declares that it wants to participate in a financing plan involving multiple towns and the county.

Duck and Kill Devil Hills are also planning to widen their beaches after seeing Nags Head’s 10-mile project appear to be holding up two years after it was completed. The county is developing its own project on Hatteras Island.

John Stockton

The preliminary financing plan calls for the county fund to provide Kitty Hawk $10.3 million up front and another $3 million to help pay off a six-year bond. The beach re-nourishment fund is made up of a portion of occupancy taxes paid by visiting renters.

Kitty Hawk’s share of debt service would be $3.9 million, which would be financed by an average property tax increase of 7.82 cents per $100 of value. Kitty Hawk’s payments after the first year would be $765,977 annually.

Some property owners would pay more, some less depending on where they live based on a final municipal service map.

Towns could see savings of up to 17 percent if their plans allow simultaneous use of dredging equipment and offshore borrow areas, town and county officials believe.

Towns are also seeking legislation that would give them condemnation power in the event that easements for placing sand cannot be obtained.