10-08-08: N. Topsail gets update on beach project

(c) 2008 Topsail Voice

By Amanda Hutcheson, Staff Writer

N. TOPSAIL BEACH – Members of North Topsail Beach’s Board of Aldermen and Beach Erosion Study Team met Wednesday with members of Coastal Planning & Engineering and the US Army Corps of Engineers for an update.

Ken Willson, with CP&E, the engineering firm hired by the town, gave an update on the status of the project and projected timelines.

That timeline includes the submittal of the Coastal Area Management Agency application in September, with the release of the final Environmental Impact Statement for public and state review in January of 2009. The timeline also includes the Army Corps of Engineers issuing a conditional permit in April of 1009 with construction of Phase I in November of 2009.

Willson also mentioned the remaining expenses associated with the project. He said that the remaining expenses were within the amounts authorized by the contract, including contingency amounts. Willson said he wanted to correct miscommunications that CP&E had come back to the town to ask for more money multiple times.

“We have always been within the confines of what the contract called for,” he said.

Willson also added that while the company wanted to be involved in meetings and keep town officials involved, the phone calls and meetings the town requested to have with CP&E officials added up.

“A few times we said we wanted to be present and ate the cost,” Willson said.

He added that the town does not owe any additional money currently, but should keep this fact in mind when requesting their presence at different meetings.

The proposed plan is in phases, which allows to town to pay as it goes. It also means that the town has no commitments if there is no construction, Willson said.

Interim Town Manager Frank Clifton asked about obligations related to acquiring the permit for parts of the project.

Willson replied that there were many variables in what conditions there might be but that they would try to make them possibilities and not obligations.

Micky Suggs with the Corps added that while sometimes requirements are added to a permit at the last minute, the town would have a chance to evaluate them to make sure the town could adhere to them.

As for the phase system, Willson said it allows the town time to reevaluate as it goes in addition to seeking funding from the state to help pay for the project. After completing Phase I of the project, he said, the town can look at how it has turned out and then make adjustments, including possibly combining other phases, before moving forward.

“Each time you combine phases, it’s cheaper,” he said, adding that mobilization costs make up a significant amount of the project cost.

Alderman Dick Farley raised concerns about the project and the amount of sand which would be put on the beach.

“At the north end, 50 cubic yards is not much of a project, if you ask me,” he said.

Tom Jarrett with CP&E replied that because the material being taken out of the inlet was coarser than the native beach material, 50-60 cubic yards of it would be equivalent to 100 cubic yards of native-quality sand.

Farley also raised questions about a similar project done at Bogue Inlet, which is often mentioned when discussing the North Topsail Beach project.

Jarrett replied that while there had been some initial glitches, the channel in that project was now acting as expected.

Willson then spoke up, saying the project was the town’s best option.

“The town wants to know how to fix problems at the north end,” he said. “Realign the channel, use it to put material on the beach. In a perfect world you could put in a groin but that isn’t an option. As engineers, the best thing on the table, other than doing nothing, is this project.”

Farley then questioned projected costs of the project, citing an earlier, higher number given by CP&E for the cost of dredging.

However, Willson said that number was a worst-case-scenario, high-end cost estimate made when gas prices were increasing at a quick rate and assuming they would continue rising at the same rate. When that proved not to be the case, estimates were once again adjusted.

Farley then raised concerns based on information from Dr. Pilkey that dredging would create a bigger hole to trap material and worsen erosion rates.

“If you dredge and do nothing with the material, then that analysis is correct, if you remove it from the system,” Jarrett said. “If you dredge and put it back on the beach, it fills up and you put it back on the beach. It’s still in the system, we’re just doing a better job moving sand around the inlet.”

“It puts us in a little bit of a difficult position,” added Willson. “We see ourselves as experts. With all due respect to doctors Pilkey and Riggs, they’ve never designed projects. They’ve critiqued them. We’ve done all this analysis; they’ve looked at it from the peripheral.”

“We would do terminal groins if they were legal,” he added.