Dune restoration work for the next 10 weeks – weather permitting – will extend from Beverly Beach to Varn Park as part of Flagler County’s ongoing emergency sand operations.
“The contractor is staging operations from Varn Park, but the work they will be conducting will start at the southern project end and progress north,” said County Engineer Faith Alkhatib. “There will be a steady stream of dump trucks and heavy equipment in the park, so the park is closed to allow us to keep the job site as safe as possible.”
Beachgoers are asked to be particularly cautious in that roughly 2.6-mile area when trucks are in the area moving and shaping sand.
“Please keep an eye on your young children and dogs,” Alkhatib said. “Our smaller loved ones can be very quick. We don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Beachfront residents are asked to move debris – large and small – from in front of their properties.
“We are not allowed to cover large debris,” Alkhatib said. “Additionally, in order to avoid any damage to private walkovers, the contractor will be placing sand next to any that appear to be unstable. Property owners will be allowed to spread and grade the sand underneath and around the walkover and stairs.”
Those who live in Painter’s Hill should know that the dune restoration project will extend from the first house south of Varn Park through the Town of Beverly Beach. Emergency sand will only be placed in front of houses – not in front of undeveloped lots unless it fills a gap in between two adjacent houses and is not in front of seawalls.
Alkhatib noted that this project is for emergency sand only, and that the Engineering Department is working on a larger dune and beach restoration project that will be designed and permitted to rebuild the beach and dune in the future.
The emergency sand project calls for 6 cubic yards to added to the dunes, plus plantings – an estimated 70,037 tons of sand over the 2.6 miles.
Concerned Homeowner says
Hard to believe the County plans on not putting sand in front of empty lots. Seems like a waste of time and money as it still leaves the homes near (but not adjacent to an empty lot) that back up to the dunes completly exposed to ocean water intrusion (assuming the home is near a few empty lots where no sand was deposited – the result is that the ocean will come over where sand was not put down and then wash all the way up and down the dune and into all the homes behind the dunes. The Corp of Engineers was not willing to undertake the sand restoration project in Flagler Beach before the County had easements from all property owners, whether there were homes behind the dune or not. They were not willing to skip restoring the dune in front of an emply lot. The obvious reason was that you either do all the dune, or not bother doing any of the dune. The County is simply wasting money. It should reevaluate its plan.
Harley Rider says
I had read half of the dune restoration sand has already eroded into the ocean, 50 %. And that was just from a rain storm 2 weeks ago. If the sands keep eroding faster than it can be replaced and everyone agrees this is not a permanent solution, why are we continuing to do this ?
I believe there is a term for this called the KAOS THEORY.
James says
“Dune Restoration Will Extend from Beverly Beach to Varn Park Over Next 10 Weeks”
Should read, “Dune Restoration Will Extend from Beverly Beach to Varn Park Over Next 10 Years.”
Just an opinion,