Flagler County government is looking for permission from almost 150 property owners along the shore in Flagler Beach to use their beachside properties over the next few months–and in perpetuity–to save the beach in what one official describes as the single-largest public works project ever conducted in Flagler.
County officials led by County Attorney Al Hadeed appeared before scores of Flagler Beach property owners and residents Tuesday afternoon at a church hall in the city to make their plea: sign those easements, and let the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers do its work. It’s an enormous project that would quite literally rebuild and expand more than two miles of beach south of the pier, in recognition of rising seas’ unstoppable creep against shore.
“This is a very important project we’re going to make for the future of Flagler Beach,” County Commission Chairman Dave Sullivan told the crowd. “We need your help to make this project come true.” A diehard Republican, Sullivan quoted Ronald Reagan’s famous quip ridiculing government–”We’re from the government and we’re here to help”–but said that in this case, “that’s true today.”
Asked if he and county government were recognizing the perils of rising seas, Sullivan demurred, then said: “We’re fighting for the life of Flagler Beach, I’ll say that.”
The county is scrambling somewhat: though this project has been dragging for more than a dozen years, all of a sudden the county has a deadline of March 25 to get all the signatures. “The due date for our easements is per our agreement with the Army Corps and is driven by the production schedule,” Hadeed said. “It takes into account the procurement process which for the major contractor cannot occur until we know precisely what areas will be renourished.”
By the time the meeting opened, 54 property owners had signed. The county needed 87 more. It had arraigned the free help of a title company, a title attorney and the presence of state and federal officials to buttress its case which, judging from the mild and largely supportive reaction at the public forum, was not drawing much resistance.
There clearly was an element of government and peer pressure on property owners to sign, with those who’d not sign made to look like refuseniks indifferent to their neighbors and to the beach’s survival. But a colloquially-rich pitch from Tax Collector Suzanne Johnston to the crowd probably did more to convince reluctant signers than the county’s more technically detailed presentation.
Sometime this spring a hopper dredger will start excavating sand seven miles offshore of Flagler Beach and piping it to shore, a $17 million project a decade and a half in the works. Over the following months, upwards of 320,000 cubic yards of sand will be dumped along 2.6 miles of Flagler Beach’s shore, building up new, broader dunes and extending the beach visibly into the ocean. It’s Flagler County’s first “beach renourishment” project in its history.
It will not be its last.
In recognition of rising seas and consequently more eroding damage from storms–even tropical storms or severe, unnamed storms–the project is an effort to stave off what is now predicted to be the inevitable shearing off of coastal real estate by accelerating sea rise over the course of the century–by as much as an inch every three years, according to sealevelrise.org’s analysis for Florida. As of last summer sea levels were projected to rise from 14 to 34 inches by 2060 in this area, and from 31 to 81 inches by the end of the century at the south end of the state. But those projections may now be at the low end of estimates.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is driving the project, expects four subsequent “renourishments” in Flagler Beach at 10 to 11-year intervals, at an additional cost of $80 million based on today’s projections, though the actual cost–between inflation, rising costs, and a history of previously much lower estimates–the cost is likely to be exponentially higher. And that’s just within the 50-year window of the current project, which assumes a lot. One of those assumptions is that there will be a beach in 50 years, and that State Road A1A will still be where it is today.
The federal government is assuming 65 percent of the initial $17 million cost. But Flagler County government or local cities are not shouldering any part of the initial cost. “All of the funding for contractors to be engaged for this 2.6 miles of work is coming from the Corps and FDOT grants,” Hadeed said, referring to the state Department of Transportation. “The same is true for the non-federal project area in Flagler Beach that will follow the Army Corps work.”
In future years, the federal government will pay half the cost of subsequent renourishments. It’ll be Flagler County’s responsibility to pay the rest, or find the money to do so, through state and other grants, or by using revenue from the tourism sales surtax. But if, say, a hurricane or a named storm devastates the coast and Flagler is declared a federal disaster area, then the federal government will pick up 100 percent of the cost of rebuilding the beach in that particular instance, because the Corps project is essentially federalizing that segment of beach. The same principle does not apply to the remainder of Flagler’s 18 miles of beach–just those 2.6 miles within the Corps’ scope.
The county has already carried out a dune rebuilding project on its own on 12 miles of beach north of Flagler Beach. But it did so with one-tenth the sand the U.S. Army Corps project is dumping, and the work was limited to the dunes. It did not create new beach, as the Corps project is expected to do. Nevertheless, it is Flagler County’s long-term intention to replicate the Corps project on all 18 miles of Flagler County’s beaches. The cost is prohibitive, and the county has no idea how it will accomplish that goal. It is hoping to secure federal dollars, but such dollars are increasingly scarce: Flagler County is not the only coastal community in the United States facing rising seas. The Florida coastline alone stretches 1,350 miles.
Once the Corps project gets under way later this year, contractors will work in construction zones of 1,000 to 1,500-ft increments, and hope to move at a rate of 200 to 700 feet per day. They will work 24 hours a day. They will not affect residents’ walkovers. If any such walkovers are damaged, the Corps will repair them on its dime. The renourishment and the easements will not prevent property owners from using their property just as they have previously, including the building of decks or walkovers.
Below is a Q&A with Hadeed.
You said you need to get the easements by March 25. Why that particular deadline, considering that the project is about 12 to 14 years old? Whose deadline is it?
The due date for our easements is per our agreement with the Army Corps and is driven by the production schedule. It takes into account the procurement process which for the major contractor cannot occur until we know precisely what areas will be renourished. All of our key permits are now in hand with some miscellaneous items still being finalized. Our expectation is that finalizing the miscellaneous items will coincide with the completion of our easement efforts. We have to do a formal certification of the lands to the Army Corps on or before March 31st to stay on schedule.
Is there a ratio below which the project could not go forward? Say, if 10 percent or more of property owners don’t sign? Can a property owner sign on after the March 25 deadline?
Re the percentage of easements to obtain, we are aiming for 100%, as that provides the greatest protection in blunting major storm force winds and tides. On the 12 mile stretch we obtained 95% of the private properties and were able to proceed with the project without sacrificing its structural integrity or purpose. Notably, some of those who did not grant the easements are now seeking them, an opportunity we welcome for the future. There is no option, however, of signing on to the Army Corps project after the deadline. If we do not secure 100%, together with the Army Corps and other partners we will have to revisit the project to assess whether performance objectives can be met. While I cannot speculate on a percentage, we need a very near unanimous number of easements to proceed. This is a performance driven project in every sense, as I outlined at the meetings yesterday and in other venues.
How much tourism sales surtax dollars (or Tourist Development Council dollars) are being used for this project? And isn’t TDC money tapped out as far as the next round of renourishment is concerned, 10 or 11 years from now?
We are not using TDC funding in this phase of the work. All of the funding for contractors to be engaged for this 2.6 miles of work is coming from the Corps and FDOT grants. The same is true for the non-federal project area in Flagler Beach that will follow the Army Corps work. it will be funded from outside grants and no TDC funds.
It is true, however, that for the 12 mile effort we did use TDC funds to get us to the finish line on that project. The majority of that funding came from various sources — a legislative appropriation, an emergency grant from the Governor, from DEP funding, FEMA funding for our public beach lands, and from special assessments from the Hammock Dunes DRI area.
That is not to say that we will never apply TDC funding, but the scale of these kinds of projects is far beyond what TDC funds provide annually. We can look to them, however, to partially subsidize any shortfall in funding or when we have a unique need for grant matches or other unique circumstance that we cannot presently predict.
Fundamentally, the efforts to finance the beach work to date characterize our efforts to seek and obtain funding from diverse sources. While I have no crystal ball about what future governments will do, that is the approach, necessarily, we will pursue in the future, including specifically for the post-construction/installation costs you reference.
As for those future costs, the City of Flagler Beach is, with the concurrence and support of the County, negotiating with the FDOT for an annual grant that will allow the City to maintain the dunes. With respect to periodic renourishments, it is a 50-50 proposition. We have to match the Army Corps amount. The costs and degree of work is unknown and will depend upon the conditions then existing. This will be influenced by the cycle of natural events but also whether the Army Corps has renourished the beach after a declared storm.
For the balance of the new dunes in Flagler Beach for which the Army Corps has no present responsibility, they will be considered “engineered beaches” with the requisite easements and, therefore, will be eligible for FEMA funding. Our routine match for FEMA projects is 12.5% unless we can influence the state to pay the local share (as once was approved for the rebuilding of the beaches at Marineland in 2001) or we are able to obtain funds from other sources. By necessity, we are entrepreneurial in our approach.
There was no mention of the words”sea rise” once yesterday, though this seems to be the central problem. Why no mention of sea rise, what is the county or the Corps doing to account for expected sea rise even in the near term, and isn’t the project, especially in its 50-year span, nullified by what are now predictions of much higher sea-level rise than expected even a few years ago?
Concerning sea level rise, the Army Corps’ engineering analysis took into account the latest sea level rise data for the 50 year life of the project. The resulting design is based on that science and the data available. The design is intended to meet the challenges of sea level rise, but note that this does not mean that the analysis is static. That is, when renourishment is on the table, the Army Corps along with other stakeholders can evaluate what has changed in order to adjust design principles for the renourishment.
This is no way to claim that the project will insulate us from a major category storm that hits our beaches directly or close enough to have a catastrophic impact. But this step we are taking is presenting a substantial mitigation measure to blunt the force of any major storms. The restored dunes should be viewed as not only a recreational and environmental enhancement, but in dire times, it is designed to dissipate the storm impact. The dunes and their sand and vegetation are in essence sacrificed to protect what we have.
Our knowledge of the beach environment will not be static or fixed in terms of design considerations. The County has responsibilities under the permits to monitor the condition of the beach after completion of the work, which we would do anyway. Also, the Army Corps’ connection with the dune restoration will similarly be dynamic. The Army Corps will assess the status of the beach restoration along with County, and I am sure the other stakeholders will offer their perspectives for consideration. This approach is integral to our performance based approach to the project.
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Surf Moore says
It was good news to hear the FDOT rep, Ron Meade confirm additional revetment will be placed before the Corp starts the sand replenishment. The existing revetment needs to be supplemented from So. 19th Street to the South. This additional revetment will help protect the lateral subgrade for A1A, that is currently exposed to significant wave action, in order to prevent the new infrastructure from being ripped out by significant hurricane conditions. This supplemental work will hopefully keep the business owners from experiencing another financial disaster like was created by the hand of hurricane Matthew.
Further, it appears the design presented where the sand replenishment will be tapered in those areas where property owners don’t sign the easement may create a public safety problem by creating engineered rip tides. This design concept may want to be revisited.
Really says
Wont even be finished before its all washed out to Sea. GL
erobot says
Really’s comment said it all!
Wasn’t it Albert Einstein, a very smart guy, who said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?
The Atlantic Ocean is the single most powerful force on planet Earth and it’s insame to think that Flagler politicians in cohoots with the Army Corps of Engineers can outsmart it. The Atlantic can and will follow the course of nature and nothing short of widening the beach will solve the “problem.”
Let’s stop the guvmint from spending more of our hard-earned money on more senseless virtue signalling.
Al Hadeed, Flagler County Attorney says
Thank you for your coverage. I do not want your readers to be misled by your reference to the “sudden need” for the permission from property owners to perform the dune restoration work. We did not have all of the funding to pursue the project until December 2019. County taxpayers could not have been reimbursed for project related costs incurred by the County prior to that date. That is an express condition of the $6.123 Million grant we received from FDOT.
It is true, however, that the County and Flagler Beach have been seeking funds for a dune restoration project for many years. We tried with the Army Corps of Engineers and the studies showed we were eligible for funding but only for the 2.6 mile segment now being pursued. But we did not make the funding lists in Congress. More urbanized areas were ahead of us in the competition for limited funding.
We turned in another direction to work with FDOT as part of its State Road A1A repair projects after Hurricane Matthew. To make a long story short, FDOT wanted to pursue a retaining wall approach, which the residents of Flagler Beach opposed and the City Commission turned the proposal down.
FDOT continued to work with the County on some funding and project ideas until the Army Corps informed the County that there was an opportunity for funding. This was because we were already eligible. Because of our then direct involvement in the 12-mile dune work in the north part of the County, we signaled to the Army Corps that we were anxious to proceed. This was especially true since the retaining wall idea was not part of the project in the 2.6 mile segment deemed eligible by the Army Corps.
We should be thankful to our County Engineer and her staff for working expeditiously on pursuing the funding made available through the Supplemental Appropriation enacted by Congress following the disasters that had hit the Nation between 2016 and 2018. Also, we should applaud the County Commissioners who were anxious to commence with a project that would restore the dunes of Flagler Beach and applaud the Flagler Beach Commission that strongly supported this initiative.
In that effort we continued to partner with FDOT in repairing the dunes. It is indeed a partner in our work in the Army Corps project area, as well as in other areas. We could not start obtaining any easements until design and permitting were well underway and having all of the funds secured to perform the project.
Admittedly, there were two interim ideas along the way that proved unworkable to Flagler County due to the permitting standards of the state and federal government. We could not for different reasons pursue these ideas. One was the so-called Holmberg study or Holmberg method. At the request of Flagler Beach, the County paid over $50,000 in TDC (tourism tax revenue) funding for this individual to develop a project that could be permitted by state and federal authorities. The County and Flagler Beach only received the same written information submitted to support his funding request that was simply packaged differently. His final report, fully paid for by TDC funds, did not meet the performance standard needed or expected for his work.
The other idea was a proposal by a local resident who, with unnamed investors, wanted to spec the project. This meant they would build a project and then the County would pay them from grants by the Army Corps or from other sources. The proposal came with no bona fides such as past success or demonstration of a method that could be permitted. It did not merit further consideration by the County.
Ultimately, Flagler County was ready to go when all of the financing was secured.
It is one thing to have the outside money, but if our citizens who own property east of A1A do not grant permission to allow the Army Corps to apply the sand and plant the vegetation, the project cannot begin. We do sacrifice an opportunity to protect the shoreline.
Also, to be clear, in the other areas where we perform dune restoration work, we will have federalized beaches and access to perform the work, such that our cost to repair them after storms will be our normal match of 12.5% of the total cost. There is a suggestion that we have “no idea” of how to raise funds for this work. I think Flagler County has demonstrated its ability to obtain funds from diverse sources for this and our other projects along our coastline. It is something we are committed to for the long term and our governmental partners and legislative representatives, along with our community, have been reliable, as well as supportive.
Thank you for this opportunity to clarify what we consider to be the most important public works project ever pursued in Flagler County’s history.
Jimbo99 says
Eventually, that last dune has to become the wall of an overpass on I-95 to protect A1A. You can do it today or you can continue to have this very same discussion every year, whether it’s a North Easter or a major hurricane. The hurricane Flagler county was spared in 2019 that trashed the Bahamas, that one would’ve made the hurricanes of 2016 & 2017 look like small damages.
marlee says
The new dunes south of Marineland have already been compromised by North winds and strong surf.
capt says
Hey Flagler County Government, if you are going to save the beaches, get your ass out of your butt and look at all beaches and the property owners along them from one end of the county to the other., There is more than Flagler Beach. Where is the shoring up of the dunes north of the Hammock, this should be a quarterly project to move the sand back up the dunes.
FlaglerLive says
From the article: “Nevertheless, it is Flagler County’s long-term intention to replicate the Corps project on all 18 miles of Flagler County’s beaches. The cost is prohibitive, and the county has no idea how it will accomplish that goal.”
Linda Morgan says
You are absolutely right. It will be a never ending project but well worth it. California needed to fight this problem and I read a long 9 page report on it’s process on MSNews. I can find it and post it if any one wants to read it.
In the beginning of their fight, the scenario was very similar to Flagler Beach, Sea Walls or beach restoration. They knew that couldn’t afford restoration for the entire coast line so they picked areas to save the beach and the other areas for seawalls.
What I took from this, is that they aren’t going to be able to walk the beach for miles and miles. There are seawalls that interrupt that walk when tides are high. So the fact that they have decided to save our beach is a BIG WIN!!
There are people in our county that are truly heroes for all their dedication to preserving our beaches, wetlands and historical sites. Not everything works out as desired but it is not for the lack of them trying.
Really says
NO the beach will temporarily exist until the next storm in a never ending battle that ultimately will succumb to Mother Nature
James says
“It’s an enormous project that would quite literally rebuild and expand more than two miles of beach south of the pier,…”
Is there anything “south” of Flagler pier? It’s been awhile since I was out that way… heading into Ormond… and I don’t recall seeing all that much on the Flagler stretch of A1A out that way. When you hit Ormond, that’s another story (in my opinion).
My point is, what about “north” of the pier?
Concerned Citizen says
All of this effort and one good Nor’Easter or minor Hurricane will set it all back.
But hey let’s keep throwing that money away because Beaches are important. What if all those millions were used to deal with the homeless issue? Imagine building shelters,starting and staffing programs and even funding jobs like some cities are doing. Instead people will cry and complain. Oh we don’t have an issue. And besides tourists are more important anyway right?
Better yet what if those millions were used to address both the homeless and mental health? Oh wait that’s right we don’t have those problems here. I suppose if you ignore it long enough it just gets forgotten instead of going away. Because we have to cater to those tourists who come down here and drink and leave their trash for us to pick up. Instead of doing the right thing when extra funding comes our way.
Just something to think about.
Grandpa says
Nothing but a waste of money by a bunch of unqualifed elected officials trying to do a meeting on something they are actually clueless about!!!! What a shame. You can’t go against mother nature and expect to win. If you are stupid enough to build on the coast live with it. You can’t fix stupid.
Hank says
Right on , Grandpa !
You said it all . Couldn’t say any better
I live on Flagler Beach for 26 years, gone through many Hurricanes.
Willy Boy says
Thou has built on shifting sands.
Pogo says
@And furthermore
Stay tuned – the more you know, the more you know
https://floridadep.gov/RCP/Beaches-Funding-Program/content/25758-rule-62b-36-public-workshop
James says
After thinking over my previous comment the other day, perhaps my question shouldn’t have been “is there anything ‘south’ of the Flagler pier” but, is there anything “south” of the Flagler pier yet. ;)
And yet another deferred cost for developers… deferred to us that is… the rest of us who are already here in the form of property and sales tax increases. Oh, and lets not forget utility bill hikes down the road… for water in particular.
Hate to sound like a cynic here, but if I do please forgive me… perhaps I’ve lived in PC too long.
Matt says
Natural processes like wave erosion and a beach’s underlying geology, as well as human factors — like coastal building developments, dams and beach nourishment efforts — all of which can affect a beach’s health.
Sea level rise is expected to outweigh these other variables, and that the more heat-trapping gases humans put into the atmosphere, the worse the impacts on the world’s beaches are likely to be.
The financial and environmental costs of these projects are enormous, and scientists say rising seas and more powerful storms, supercharged by a warmer climate, will make this a losing battle.
Scientists say that when we develop near the water, we disrupt a beach’s ability to move and halt the natural processes that allow sand to replenish on its own.
Cheri Surloff says
We have to stop development on the beaches It is not only the seas rising but we are destroying the natural ability of the beaches to have a shoreline
Cheri Surloff