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April 23, 2012 – The commissioners of the City of Flagler Beach voted 5-0 this evening for Holmberg Technologies to move forward with the beach restoration project.
The next step is to arrange funding, and an action plan has been put in place to that end.
This is indeed great news, after 7 years of effort by a core group of individuals and supporters.
Thanks to all.
ANOTHER Town Hall meeting was held on November 13, 2011 at which 7companies presented their proposals to solve our beach erosion problem. This video is the presentation for Holmberg Technologies.
Residents who want to consider a different tactic in the ongoing battle against beach erosion will be able to hear about those possibilities this week.
Flagler Beach will have a town hall meeting 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Disabled American Veterans hall, 206 S. 6th St.
It’s the second time in the last couple of months that city officials have staged a town hall meeting to address this issue. At the meeting in September, residents heard from a mix of government agencies and other organizations.
This time, residents will hear about what officials call the “alternative” methods of preventing or slowing beach erosion. The meeting will include presentations from Progressive Innovations, Coastal Restoration Systems, Maxwell Marine Consulting Engineers, Holmberg Technologies, SeaBull Marine, ASR Limited and Stable Soils of Florida.
City Manager Bruce Campbell, who will moderate the meeting, said he gave those representatives a list of about 15 questions he wants them to answer through their presentation or in writing. Those questions include whether their method requires beach renourishment and listing other places where their method has been used.
Residents will also have time to ask questions and comment about the presentations, which are limited to 20 minutes
Campbell said he hopes the meeting will be informative for county residents and officials. Representatives from the government agencies who attended the previous town hall meeting are also invited, he said.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is in the midst of studying possible solutions but that might not be complete until 2014.
Many residents, including a local group called “Save Flagler’s Beach,” are “very passionate,” about keeping Flagler’s sand intact, Commissioner Steve Settle said.
“One of the main problems we’ve got a lot of people worried is (the Florida Department of Transportation) wants to build a sea wall,” Settle said.
Earlier this year, FDOT shelved plans to build a $6 million steel sea wall, partly because residents and commissioners said they didn’t want it. Many said they feared the wall would hasten beach erosion in that area from 250 feet north of South 13th Street to 140 feet south of South 14th Street, an area that has been troublesome for years.
But FDOT officials said at the time that if the road washes away during a hurricane or nor’easter, it might not be practical to rebuild it.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — The plan by a group of property owners here to use a unique dune restoration technique to protect their oceanfront lots from beach erosion has fallen through, in part due to maintenance requirements.
The owners of seven lots in the 4600 block of Van Kleek Drive got state permits to place an almost 600-foot-long “protect tube system” parallel to existing dunes seaward of their property in hopes of stemming the loss of beach sand during storms.
However, two of the property owners said state regulations made them give up on the proposal.
Harry Brandt said he was discouraged from moving forward due to state mandates that put the burden of keeping the sand-filled tubes covered with sand and vegetation in perpetuity on the upland property owners. They would also be required to maintain a performance bond to fund removal of the tubes if required.
“We decided it was too much,” Brandt said of the permit conditions and constant delays. “We gave up.”
Fellow property owner Buddy Eidel agreed, saying during the 12 years he has owned his beachfront property he spent an estimated $30,000 to get approval to protect it from the ocean. While he was successful in securing permitting for the “protect tube,” there were so many conditions and requirements attached to the permit, it was not worth the effort.
“Until the dune washes out to within 10 feet of your property, that is the only time the state will let you do anything,” he said. “To me, that is closing the barn door after the horse is out.”
Eidel, who has given up on any protection effort, said if the state does not want people living on the beach, then it should just buy all the property.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection permit authorizing installation of the tubes was granted in February 2010, about the same time his clients pulled the plug, said Gary Hamilton of Coastal Restorations Systems, project engineer.
Hamilton said financial considerations also put the installation on permanent hold, but he declined to discuss those in detail, citing privacy rights of his clients.
“It is unfortunate things happened as they did,” he said.
Hamilton said the property owners were unable to get approval for a traditional sea wall because there was too much space between their lots and an adjacent sea wall. As such, they opted for the tube alternative. The tubes are buried under the sand and are designed to dissipate wave energy, reducing the potential for erosion, he said. The cost is similar to a sea wall or about $800 to $1,000 per linear foot.
Hamilton said a similar 90-foot long tube installed in a gap between two sea walls at Heron Street in Wilbur-by-the-Sea in 1990 is still operational.
“It is still doing its job,” he said. “It gets uncovered with sand and gets covered back up.”
Hamilton said his project’s permit required that before each turtle nesting season there is at least 3 feet of beach-quality sand and vegetation covering the tube. And those requirements after the extensive process of design and engineering that goes into such a project were just too much.
“The (maintenance) onus should be on the state rather than the property owner,” he said. “All he is trying to do is protect his property.”
Multiple efforts to reach other property owners involved in the project were unsuccessful.
Hamilton’s “protect tube system” has also been discussed for possible use to prevent beach erosion that threatens State Road A1A in Flagler Beach.
FLAGLER BEACH — While there may be no obvious solution to the city’s beach erosion problems, residents heard a half-dozen ideas that could work — at least according to their promoters.
At a beach stablization and protection town hall meeting Tuesday, more than 50 Flagler Beach residents heard presentations from six firms offering solutions to the erosion problems threatening State Road A1A. And, while there were some significant differences between the various ideas, all the presenters agreed on one essential point: Building a sea wall is not an option.
City Manager Bruce Campbell, acting as moderator for the meeting, said beach erosion “is one of the most challenging issues we have facing our city.”
Campbell said Tuesday’s meeting was an outgrowth of a September meeting where representatives from the Florida Department of Transportation and other agencies discussed the issue.
Presenters focused on a range of issues, including how their solution would work, other areas where the technology has been applied, cost issues and whether the company would post a performance bond for the work.
Each presenter was given 20 minutes to make a pitch and residents had time to ask questions.
The solutions offered ranged from underwater tube systems, artificial reefs of different types, and soil stablization systems.
Gary Hamilton, from Coastal Restoration Systems, spoke first, touting the company’s “protect tube system.”
Hamilton said the tube technology has been around since 1985 and has “worked in several places.” He said a project to stabilize the beach in New Smyrna Beach has received all the necessary permitting but has not yet been implemented.
Maureen Woods, an engineer from Maxwell Marine Consulting Engineers, offered her company’s reef ball solution which she said would not only alleviate the beach erosion problem but would also enhance eco-tourism in the area. The reef ball idea would create a breakwater, lessening the impact of waves as they hit the beach.
The breakwater idea was also pitched by John Hearin from ASR Limited, though his company’s multi-purpose reefs differed in size and composition.
Also presenting at the meeting was Terry Potter, representing Holmberg Technologies.
The Holmberg method of underwater stabilizers has been used in the Captiva Island area of southwest Florida, and Holmberg has discussed his method with Flagler Beach officials in the past.
“We can do this,” Potter said. “We just need you to let us do it.”
Flagler Beach resident John Liccardo said he came to the meeting because he is interested in the issue and the potential costs.
“I just want to make sure we’re not spinning our wheels and do something we’ll regret later,” Liccardo said.
While all the presenters offered detailed outlines of their technologies, they said providing any kind of cost estimate would depend on the specific area to be treated and be subject to local conditions. All of the very rough cost estimates were in the millions of dollars.
Campbell said at this time there are no plans for any future town hall meetings on the issue, “but that could change.”
Flagler County has included a million dollars in the 2011 budget to fund the balance of the Army Corps of Engineers “Feasibility Study”.
They could have waited for a 50% match from the federal government, but it is slow being funded, so the county commissioners decided to pay for it all themselves — with your direct tax money.
We ask: Why the rush to get this study done? We know what the end result will be: DREDGING AND DUMPING SAND on the beaches! Problem is, the ACoE already acknowledges there is NO SAND to dredge! One possibility is to import it from the Bahamas! Another is to use some crappy grey sand they found out there somewhere. And those options are only viable IF the feds fund it!
This whole idea of a need to get the feasibility study finished is just garbage. But, oh well… it’s only YOUR money.
Julie Murphy, Daytona News-Journal, October 15 2011- The beach is a priority, and not only for local officials and residents.
Sen. John Thrasher promised to set up a meeting “in the Governor’s Office” to get the ball rolling — faster — for the completion of an Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study about boosting the stability of Flagler’s beach and State Road A1A, a critical beachside evacuation route.
“We all understand the gravity of it,” he said during a Flagler County legislative delegation meeting Wednesday in the County Commission chambers in Bunnell.
The annual meeting was a chance for residents to address the two state House and two state Senate members who represent at least a part of the county on legislative and budget issues. Rep. Bill Proctor was absent, though, because of an illness in his family.
Most of the dozen or so speakers who addressed lawmakers represent Flagler County’s municipalities and nonprofit service agencies that depend, to some degree, on state funding. Before they were given the opportunity to make their case for support, they were advised by Thrasher, the delegation’s chairman, that state economists predict the Legislature faces a $1.5 billion revenue shortfall when it convenes for its annual session Jan. 10.
Several spoke about their concern for the beach.
“This year (the city of) Flagler Beach lost over 17 percent of our property value,” said Jane Mealy, City Commission vice chairwoman. “If we loose the beach, we’ll lose even more.”
Terry Potter of Save Flagler’s Beach noted that a foot of sand was lost with the latest storm, which wasn’t even a named storm.
“One more storm like this last one, which wasn’t even critical, and it could cause the erosion of (State Road) A1A,” he told the delegation. He asked for alternatives to the Department of Transportation’s proposed sea wall extension.
October 12, 2011. We had a busy day today. We had appointments set up with legislators to present our issues and to request coordinated, expedited permitting and funding for a mile of Undercurrent Stabilizer demonstration project.
First we had a private meeting with Senator Bill Nelson’s Regional Director. She was very attentive, took a lot of notes, and asked some very good questions. Having grown up living on Amelia Island, she was very familiar and sympathetic with our problem. She will send our requests to Senator Nelson’s department in Washington that deals with these types of issues.
We then had a private meeting with Senator Thrasher. It was short, but to the point. Senator Thrasher promised to arrange a meeting for us in Tallahassee with his staff involved with beach erosion issues.
Finally, we spoke at the Flagler Legislative Delegation with Senator Thrasher, Senator Gibson and Representative Costello all in attendance. Commissioner Jane Mealy was on the agenda before us, and did an excellent job of setting the stage, explaining how the beaches were the main source of tourist revenue for the county; how rapidly they were eroding; and that the city was open to trying an alternative approach to resolve erosion.
We presented our situation to the delegation with a few more facts and figures, again emphasizing the urgency, and requested coordinated, expedited permitting and funding. Senator Thrasher reiterated that he had already committed to set up a meeting for us in Tallahassee.
So, we had a successful day! Now we have a lot of homework to do to prepare for communications with Washington and our meeting(s) in Tallahassee.
Daytona Beach News-Journal, October 12 2011
FLAGLER BEACH — City commissioners will consider on Thursday a move that could extend the life of a sea wall by 40 years.
The Florida Department of Transportation has proposed covering the steel wall on the south side of town with 8 inches of concrete. Without that, the wall will only last about 13 more years, Acting City Manger Bruce Campbell said.
The fix is also supposed to make the sea wall look better.
The 140-foot wall was installed in 2005 during an emergency repair. The repair is estimated to cost $361,690, which would be paid by FDOT.
“I don’ t know how long it’s going to take to get any kind of fixing on the beach whether it be an alternative method or the traditional one, so I think the current sea wall should be fixed,” Vice Chairwoman Jane Mealy said on Monday.
But Commissioner Kim Carney said that won’t help beach erosion or improve the appearance of that part of beach.
“I’d rather spend that money looking for an alternative,” Carney said.
Campbell said Monday that the beach lost about a foot of sand during the weekend storms.
Commissioners will also decide if they want to bring in the National Planning Center of Expertise for Coastal Storm Damage to oversee the shore protection study. The city’s Washington, D.C. lobbyists, Marlowe and Company, suggested the agency could help get the study done sooner and with less cost, Campbell said.
The Army Corps of Engineers study, which is funded by the county, state and federal governments, is supposed to determine the best ways to protect Flagler County’s beaches. If the commissioners decide it would be beneficial to pull the Planning Center of Expertise into the study, the city will recommend to county officials that they direct the agency to do so.
Flagler Beach is a stakeholder, but the county is really in charge of the study, Campbell said.
Mealy said she’s still thinking about the issue but if it expedites the study, it makes sense.
Carney said it appears to be a public relations move for the Army Corps.
A Significant Breakthrough!
A special meeting, called by commissioner Steve Settle, was held on Thursday, September 29. The purpose was to discuss an action by commissioner Jane Mealy of which none of the other commissioners had any knowledge.
Background:
A “Legislative Delegation” (Senator Thrasher and others) will be in town on October 12 to hear Flagler’s city leaders’ priorities for legislation and funding. Commissioner Mealy had taken it upon herself to represent the city and to request the following, including $790,470 of funding:
- “Support for funding of the Army Corps of Engineers beach restoration feasibility study and acceleration of such funding and study.” ($278,780)
- “Support for repair by FDOT of the existing seawall on Flagler Beach’s beach, and nourishment of beach on end/front of wall, and the planting of vegetation atop the dunes to assist in stopping further erosion of the beach.” ($511,690)
Commissioner Settle pointed out that there had been no discussion of the city’s priorities following the town hall meeting the previous week, and that these were not his priorities. It was his understanding that there was going to be a discussion to formulate a policy on beach erosion, and that Mealy’s requests were not in line with that.
There was much restraint during the debate, but the tension was obvious. About a dozen members of the public also strongly voiced their opinions, mostly to encourage the commissioners to stop procrastinating and make a decision that avoided waiting around for the feasibility study to be completed, only to end up with a foregone conclusion: seawalls and renourishment every few years.
Finally commissioner Mealy rewrote the first request (below). Twice the second request was voted on, and it was finally deleted.
Thanks to Steve Settle and Kim Carney, with guarded support by Marshall Shupe, the commissioners now have an actual policy statement on beach erosion!
City of Flagler Beach Policy Statement on Beach Erosion
This is the revised wording for the Legislative Delegation request, and is now the official policy:
“Although the Army Corps of Engineers is completing a Feasibility Study, Flagler Beach is interested in attempting an alternative method. We ask for support in the form of money and permitting for which ever method the residents and the Commission of Flagler Beach determine will be best for Flagler County beaches. Flagler Beach stands ready to talk to the County, the State, and the Federal Government and work with all parties to make sure we are adequately funded.”
Thank you!
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