groins - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T19:57:03Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/groinsSouth Palm Beach: Town looks for lobbyist despite demise of beach projecthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-town-looks-for-lobbyist-despite-demise-of-beach-2019-04-03T18:51:27.000Z2019-04-03T18:51:27.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong></p>
<p>South Palm Beach council members are looking for a lobbyist to get behind their beach project. Never mind that they don’t have a beach project to get behind.<br /> The plan to stabilize the town’s shoreline with concrete groins fell apart in February when county officials pulled out their support because of soaring costs and opposition from neighbors to the south.<br /> That left South Palm Beach scrambling to find an alternative project that would do something to address residents’ concerns about their eroding beachfront.<br /> “We’re looking at other options,” said Mayor Bonnie Fischer. “Nobody is giving up.”<br /> Fischer said during the March 19 town meeting that she wasn’t ready to disclose those options. She also said she wasn’t ready to hire a lobbyist.<br /> “I’m not against a lobbyist. But I think it’s a little premature.”<br /> Despite her reluctance, Fischer grudgingly supported the proposal from newly seated Councilman Mark Weissman to find a lobbyist who can convince state and county officials that the town needs help to save its beach. Weissman’s motion passed 4-0 with Councilwoman Stella Gaddy Jordan absent.<br /> “It’s good to have a lobbyist,” said Vice Mayor Robert Gottlieb. “But we also need a project to lobby for.”<br /> Weissman argued the town should search for the right person now so the council is ready to go when it settles on an alternative project.<br /> “Perhaps in the investigation we can find out who we want to engage, who’s available, who doesn’t have a conflict,” Weissman said. “Perhaps there’s somebody who’s done this at another municipality along the coast.” <br /> Because condo buildings in South Palm Beach sit on a rocky ledge so close to the waterline, traditional beach renourishment projects are not feasible, environmental engineers say. Without groins to hold it, sand trucked in and deposited on the beach would quickly wash away.<br /> “One little, tiny rainstorm and there goes the beach,” Fischer said. “It’s very disconcerting.”<br /> Residents of Manalapan and farther south oppose groins because of concern they will interrupt the natural downstream flow of sand to their beaches. Manalapan and the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa threatened to sue to block the project.<br />Despite the opposition, Fischer said the town and the county “still have momentum” to move forward and find a plan that works for everyone.<br /> In other business, the council honored police officers David Hul and Adam Farrish for lifesaving efforts.<br /> Farrish provided aid to a heart attack victim walking along State Road A1A on Jan. 21.<br /> Hul was first to respond in front of the Imperial House condominium on Jan. 24 when a motorist struck Rinaldo Morelli and his wife, Lena, police say, as they walked along A1A. Rinaldo Morelli, 75, died despite Hul’s efforts to save him with CPR. Lena Morelli was treated at Delray Medical Center and released.<br /> Investigators from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office have not finished their report on the incident. Police believe the driver, Janet J. Reynolds, 91, of Palm Beach, drove her 2009 Lexus off the road and struck the couple. Officials say the investigation is likely complicated because of efforts to look into the driver’s health and medical background.</p></div>South Palm Beach: Beach project appears dead after county backs outhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-beach-project-appears-dead-after-county-backs-ou2019-02-27T20:03:28.000Z2019-02-27T20:03:28.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960866097,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960866097,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960866097?profile=original" /></a><em>Traditional beach renourishment techniques do not work well with the rocky hard bottom partially visible in this 2017 image of South Palm Beach. The neighboring towns of Lantana and Manalapan to the south are concerned that groins would prevent sand from making its natural migration to their beaches. <strong>The Coastal Star/Google Map</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong></p>
<p>For nearly 13 years, Palm Beach County and South Palm Beach have worked together on a controversial plan to use a network of concrete groins to relieve the town’s chronic beach erosion problems.<br /> They spent $1.7 million and devoted countless hours to the joint venture, consulting with scientists and engineers, lobbying politicians and state officials, and twisting the arms of skeptical residents and neighbors.<br /> Now, months before construction of the groins was scheduled to begin, it appears the project is dead in the water.<br /> On Feb. 5, the county sent a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection officially withdrawing a request for the permits needed to move forward. County environmental managers say the project has grown too expensive to make sense anymore.<br /> “We have determined that the project is cost prohibitive,” said Michael Stahl, deputy director of the county’s Environmental Resources Management department.<br /> What was envisioned as a $10 million plan a decade ago has ballooned now to something closer to $25 million, Stahl said. Though the state has promised to cover half the cost, the new estimate is a deal breaker for the county, which would have to pay 30 percent, and for South Palm Beach, which would owe the remaining 20 percent.<br />Still, the county and Mayor Bonnie Fischer say they would continue to negotiate in an effort to persuade the DEP to take a more favorable view of the project.<br />Fischer said the town was “exploring other options” but no decisions are at hand. “We’re never going to quit. We’ll keep fighting for our beach.”<br />Stahl told the South Palm Beach Town Council on Feb. 12 that the DEP has made two new permit requirements that will be virtually impossible for the county and town to afford.<br /> Because the groins might do environmental harm to the rocky hard bottom that runs along the South Palm Beach shoreline, the state is requiring the construction of an artificial reef covering close to 8 acres offshore to mitigate any damage. That alone would cost millions.<br /> Perhaps more daunting and more expensive, however, is the long-term requirement to keep neighbors happy.<br /> The town of Manalapan threatened to sue the county and South Palm Beach to stop the project and was joined in the mounting legal offensive by the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa. The opponents believe the groins would interrupt the natural north-to-south flow of sand and cause erosion of Manalapan’s beaches.<br /> Because of Manalapan’s complaints and threats, the state wanted the county and South Palm Beach to commit to repairing potential beach damage south of the town. Stahl said the newly conceived state standard for claiming damage is relatively generous: Any public or private entity with a beach less than 45 feet can make a case for sand replenishment, and the county and South Palm would be on the hook for that.<br /> “This is a condition that could result in perpetual placement of sand,” Stahl said. “It gives anyone the right to order a survey and demand corrective action.”<br /> The potential legal liability for South Palm Beach could bankrupt the town, officials say.<br />Manalapan Mayor Keith Waters, who said for months he was committed to “taking any means necessary” to stop the project, said the town had to protect its beaches.<br />“We didn’t have a choice,” Waters said after the Feb. 26 Town Commission meeting. “We got specific reaction from the entire community, from the Eau and from people on the ocean. They felt that it was going to have just an immediate impact on their beach.”<br />Waters said his town tried to negotiate with South Palm Beach and the county but was unable to find a solution or dissuade the project’s supporters from moving forward. <br />Threatening to sue was the only option, he said.<br />Town, county left reeling<br /> “I know it’s not easy for anybody to take this news,” said Deborah Drum, the county’s environmental resources director. “We don’t take it lightly. We’ve all invested a lot of time and resources and funds to get to this point. This isn’t where we wanted to end up.”<br /> As for a Plan B for South Palm Beach? There isn’t one.<br /> Because of the rocky bottom along the town’s five-eighths-mile shoreline, traditional sand renourishment techniques do not work. Stahl said the county made a half-dozen attempts between 2003 and 2009 to haul in sand and place it on the town’s beach, but with nothing to hold it in place, the wave action washed it away within months.<br />The county also wanted to protect Lantana Municipal Beach, the public access sandwiched between South Palm Beach and Manalapan. The town of Lantana was essentially a silent partner in the county’s plan, with no financial requirements because of its public beach access.<br /> After Hurricane Wilma tore up the shoreline in 2005, officials turned to stabilization with groins as a last resort that might hold sand and protect not only the beach but condominium sea walls — and, in the face of sea rise, the condominiums themselves.<br /> “Everybody has to understand that we’re dealing with a dynamic medium,” said Fischer. “You’re talking about looking at a beach project over 12 years.”<br /> South Palm has a “continuously wet beach,” she said, and issues that are truly unique. Fischer said just as the storms and tides would come and wash sand in and out of the beachfront, the DEP seemed to shift positions constantly.<br /> “There were a lot of stipulations and roadblocks, and meanwhile everything (on the beach) is changing every day,” Fischer said. “The county was constantly inundated with requests for additional information. ... This has been a highly regulated issue.”<br /> To date, the county has spent a little over $1.3 million on studies and permit applications for the project, and South Palm has paid about $330,000. The number of staff hours invested in the effort is incalculable.</p></div>South Palm Beach: Mayor expresses optimism as administrative reboot beginshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-mayor-expresses-optimism-as-administrative-reboo2018-01-31T19:19:47.000Z2018-01-31T19:19:47.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong></p>
<p>Mayor Bonnie Fischer swore in new Town Manager Majella “Mo” Thornton at the beginning of January’s council meeting and declared a fresh start for South Palm Beach as it enters the new year.<br /> “We have now made significant changes to the administration of South Palm Beach,” Fischer said. “We have brought in seasoned local professionals that have proven their integrity over a period of years in Palm Beach County. I think that’s important.”<br /> Thornton replaces Bob Vitas, who was forced out of the manager’s position in October after a unanimous vote of no-confidence by the Town Council, ending a yearlong dispute over a new contract and pay raise.<br /> Also gone is Brad Biggs, who served as the town attorney for more than a decade. Biggs decided to resign last summer after his contract expired and the council refused to negotiate a new one. Replacing Biggs is veteran municipal attorney Glen Torcivia, founder of the West Palm Beach law firm Torcivia, Donlon, Goddeau & Ansay. <br /> Thornton comes to South Palm Beach after 21 years as city manager in Atlantis.<br />“I’m happy with the changes we’ve made,” Fischer said, “and I look forward to bringing the town together and having a successful year.”<br /> Fischer said the first order of business for the overhauled administration is to get the foundering beach stabilization project moving again. The joint plan with Palm Beach County to install seven groins from the town’s northern border to the southern end of Lantana Municipal Beach has languished after complaints from Manalapan and questions from state officials who are considering whether to grant permits for the project.<br /> “There’s been a lot of issues lately and it’s been stalled,” Fischer said. “Apparently there seem to be concerns with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that has some issues with the county and their permits. I’d like to get the professionals in here and see what’s going on that’s negative and give us more insights into the project.”<br /> Fischer said she and Thornton plan to meet with county environmental managers soon to find out what the town can do to jump-start the groin installation, which officials still hope to begin in November.<br /> “This project is taking too long and there’s too much effort to it,” the mayor said. “I certainly don’t want to see it fall by the wayside. We need answers.” <br /> <strong>In other business,</strong> George Turenne, president of American Lighting Maintenance in Riviera Beach, told the council during the Jan. 23 town meeting that his company was nearly finished replacing the street and sidewalk lighting on A1A.<br /> The new LED lights cost about $28,000 to install, roughly half the expense of traditional halogen lighting. The new lights use about a third of the electricity of halogen lamps and have a life expectancy of about 11 years, four times that of the halogens.<br /> “The new lights are turtle-friendly too,” Turenne said.</p></div>Ocean Ridge/Manalapan: Sand transfer plant down but not outhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-manalapan-sand-transfer-plant-down-but-not-out2018-01-31T18:30:52.000Z2018-01-31T18:30:52.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960764496,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960764496,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="600" alt="7960764496?profile=original" /></a><em>Sand builds up on both sides of the north jetty of the Boynton Inlet after the sand pumping station was temporarily shut down. Seawater usually reaches the wall of the building and boulders are visible under the sign. <strong>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong></p>
<p>No one would have blamed Ocean Ridge residents for thinking something subversive was going on when the sand transfer plant at Boynton Beach Inlet stopped pumping in January.<br /> No one would have blamed them for suspecting that an ongoing dispute between Manalapan and Palm Beach County had something to do with interrupting the flow of sand south to Ocean Ridge’s beaches.<br /> For months, Manalapan officials have voiced their opposition to a county plan to install groins in South Palm Beach. Manalapan fears the groins would steal its sand and damage its beaches.<br /> The town has become so committed to fighting the groins idea that Mayor Keith Waters has hinted Manalapan might not cooperate with the county’s use of the transfer plant to move sand south around the jetty.<br /> Waters’ reasoning is that if the county’s groins take sand meant for Manalapan, then the town can’t afford to give up the sand it has to feed its neighbors’ beaches. <br /> It turned out that the county shut down the plant in January to do some repairs and maintenance, and it was back online in relatively short order. No one blames Ocean Ridge for worrying, however.<br /> In September, a 21-year-old contract — requiring the state, the county, Manalapan and Ocean Ridge to cooperate with the plant’s operation — expired. Manalapan has suggested it might not be willing to sign a new contract, using it as a bargaining chip to persuade the county to scrap its groin plan.<br /> Manalapan Town Manager Linda Stumpf said there have been no talks with the county about renewing the contract, which ended years of legal bickering among the parties. Ocean Ridge Town Attorney Brian Shutt says that, though the contract has lapsed, the agreement’s essence remains.<br /> “I do not see any change in the way the sand station will be operated,” Shutt said, “as there was language in the agreement that provided that upon expiration the county would still continue to operate the station in the same manner.”<br /> Still, Ocean Ridge is taking the plant issue seriously. Town Manager Jamie Titcomb says he expects the Town Commission to choose one of its members at the Feb. 12 meeting to be the “point person” for monitoring the groin project and its potential impact on the transfer plant.</p>
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<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Ocean Ridge candidate forum</strong></span><br /><strong>Feb. 21:</strong> Three candidates for two seats on the Town Commission will take part — incumbent Gail Aaskov and political newcomers Kristine de Haseth and Phil Besler. <br /><strong>Where:</strong> Town Hall<br /><strong>Time:</strong> 6-8 p.m.<br /><strong>Sponsor:</strong> League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County</p></div>Manalapan: Expired sand transfer contract could give town a lever against beach projecthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/manalapan-expired-contract-could-give-town-a-lever-against-beach-2017-11-29T17:00:00.000Z2017-11-29T17:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong><br /> <br /> Manalapan may have found a new bargaining chip to persuade Palm Beach County officials to forget about installing groins on beaches north of the town.<br /> It’s the sand transfer plant at the Boynton Beach Inlet.<br /> Town Attorney Keith Davis told Manalapan commissioners on Nov. 28 that the long-running contract between the town and the county to operate the plant expired earlier this year.<br /> “There are no agreements that bind the town at this point,” Davis said. “Any obligation Manalapan had has expired.”<br /> Mayor Keith Waters, who has pledged “to fight tooth and nail” the county’s groin project with every available weapon, suggested that the expiration may present “an opportunity” that could be useful to the town.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960764280,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960764280,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="495" alt="7960764280?profile=original" /></a>The transfer plant is located on the Manalapan side of the Boynton Inlet. <strong>File photo</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;" class="font-size-3">Ruling requires cooperation</span><br /> In 1987, Ocean Ridge filed suit against Manalapan and the county, claiming the transfer plant wasn’t pumping enough sand southward to keep Ocean Ridge beaches healthy. The suit claimed Manalapan was stealing sand meant for communities to the south. In 1990, a Palm Beach County circuit judge agreed and ordered the county to increase the amount of sand sent toward Ocean Ridge.<br /> The decision required Manalapan, Ocean Ridge and the county to work together to ensure that the plant did what it was supposed to do and replenish South County beaches.<br /> Today, the county continues to operate the plant, but if Manalapan balks at signing a new agreement for the sand transfer plant, a chain reaction of consequences that might follow is easy to imagine:<br /> If Manalapan refuses to cooperate with the county and allow the transfer of sand, the plant could shut down.<br /> Without the transfer plant running, the natural flow of sand south is interrupted by the manmade jetty at the Boynton Beach Inlet.<br /> With sand stuck on the north side of the jetty in Manalapan, communities to the south — among them Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream, Delray Beach, maybe even Highland Beach and Boca Raton — could see their beaches quickly erode.<br /> Avoiding the political and environmental chaos from all this disruption would seem to be a powerful inducement to get the county to abandon its controversial project in South Palm Beach.<br /> Would Manalapan really hold the transfer plant hostage? Well, stay tuned.<br /> Waters and his commission have scheduled a special workshop for 9 a.m. Dec. 19 to consider the opportunities that the expired contract offers groin-hating Manalapan residents.<br /> “We need to discuss the implications of that sand issue,” the mayor said.</p>
<p>One very interested party who plans to attend the Manalapan meeting is Geoff Pugh, the Ocean Ridge mayor whose community's beaches depend on the sand from the plant. Any interruption or decrease in outflow is unthinkable.</p>
<p>"They can't do that," he said. "That transfer plant is critical to Ocean Ridge. It's not their sand."<br /> Immediately after the workshop, the commission has scheduled a 10 a.m. meeting with the county’s two department heads who are overseeing the groin project: Rob Robbins, the director of environmental resources, and Michael Stahl, environmental program supervisor.<br /> Town Manager Linda Stumpf had tried for three months to schedule a question-and-answer session with commissioners, Robbins and Stahl, but the county officials had other commitments. Stumpf and Waters turned down offers to meet with lower-ranking staffers. <br /> Stumpf said she is confident Robbins and Stahl will appear in Manalapan to field questions on Dec. 19. “We’re going to have a full house,” she said. “This is a big project and a big issue for everyone.”<br /> Stumpf also intends to invite representatives from South Palm Beach, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream, Lantana, Hillsboro Beach and the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa. <br /> Hillsboro Beach is suing Deerfield Beach, accusing its northern neighbor of using a 60-year-old groin project to steal sand meant for Hillsboro. The suit seeks millions in damages.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;" class="font-size-3">Groin project in works for more than a decade</span><br /> Palm Beach County’s project calls for installing seven 100-foot-long concrete groins in South Palm Beach to stabilize the town’s eroding beachfront. The $5 million plan has been in the works for roughly 12 years. South Palm will pay 20 percent of the cost, the county 30 percent through tourism taxes, with the federal government and Florida Department of Environmental Protection covering the other 50 percent.<br /> County officials are working on obtaining permits and hope to start construction by November 2018.<br /> Waters believes the groins will do “irreparable damage” to Manalapan’s beaches. “I don’t know anyone in the town who supports that project,” he said.<br /> The sand transfer plant was built at the inlet, technically known as the Lake Worth Inlet, in 1937, nine years after the navigable passageway from the Intracoastal Waterway to the ocean was cut. Today, the plant must move between 80,000 to 100,000 cubic yards of sand each year, according to the contract.<br /> The county replaced the original plant in 1967 and then overhauled it again in 2011, spending about $8 million.</p></div>Along the Coast: Manalapan vows to fight South Palm Beach sand retention planhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-manalapan-vows-to-fight-south-palm-beach-sand-ret2017-08-02T14:30:00.000Z2017-08-02T14:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960738284,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960738284,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960738284?profile=original" /></a></strong></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Related Story: Will our next beach renourishment use <a href="http://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-will-our-next-beach-renourishment-use-bahamian-sa">Bahamian sand</a>?</strong></p>
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<p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong><br /> <br /> Manalapan is stepping up efforts to block a proposed beach stabilization project that would install concrete groins to capture sand in South Palm Beach.<br /> On July 18, Manalapan Mayor Keith Waters and Town Manager Linda Stumpf met with Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams to outline the town’s opposition to the project.<br /> Waters told Abrams what he’s been telling his residents: The town is prepared to do “whatever it takes” to prevent the installation of groins that will “steal” sand from Manalapan.<br /> The project, which county environmental managers hope to begin in November 2018, is going through a complicated permitting phase now that requires approvals from federal and state agencies. Waters said the town intends to intervene in that process and argue against granting the permits.<br /> After the meeting, Abrams sent an email to Rob Robbins, director of the county’s Environmental Resources Management department, which oversees the project. Abrams’ remarks reflect the conflicted positions officials find themselves in as neighbors turn against neighbors in disputes over sand for their beaches.<br /> “I am in the middle of this as the district commissioner for both them and South Palm Beach, as well as my responsibility to protect county interests,” Abrams wrote. “It would certainly be in everyone’s interest to resolve this matter without resort(ing) to any adversarial proceedings.”<br /> Robbins responded to Abrams with a call for patience:<br /> “Our applications are not yet complete and we have at least many months to go before they will be complete,” Robbins wrote in an email. “What I’m trying to convey is that the town should not feel rushed to intervene.”<br /> Robbins said, “We hate to see the town spend money defending themselves from the county.”<br /> Manalapan’s opposition is based largely on what the county and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers don’t know about what the groins’ impact would be on the beaches south of South Palm Beach.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960738899,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960738899,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="274" alt="7960738899?profile=original" /></a><br /> The fear is the concrete devices would greatly disrupt the natural north-to-south flow of sand, capturing so much that there’s not enough left to replenish the beaches in Manalapan and its southern neighbors. Waters points to Broward County, where Hillsboro Beach is dealing with severe erosion and is suing northern neighbor Deerfield for using groins to trap sand.<br /> Stumpf says South Palm Beach has concern about the sand transfer station at the Boynton Beach Inlet, technically known as the Lake Worth Inlet. The man-made entry to the Intracoastal Waterway interrupts the natural flow of sand south. The purpose of the transfer station is to mechanically pick up sand from the north side of the inlet and pump it to Ocean Ridge on the south side.<br /> “If we don’t get sand in Manalapan,” Stumpf says, “then we don’t have anything to transfer to Ocean Ridge.”<br /> Manalapan officials warn of a cascading effect in which sand flow dies at the inlet, starving beaches not only in Ocean Ridge, but in Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Delray Beach.<br /> Army engineers have offered little to allay this concern. In June 2016, the Corps released a 481-page Environmental Impact Study, detailing the plan and examining its potential effects. Manalapan was mentioned only 27 times, with nearly all of the references historical or perfunctory.<br /> “We’re willing to pay for our own study to show the damage this project could do,” Stumpf said.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960738293,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960738293,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="473" alt="7960738293?profile=original" /></a><em>ABOVE LEFT: Beach sand naturally follows the predominant tidal action ‘littoral drift’ south along our coast. Physical barriers like groins and inlet jetties slow that drift, depriving the neighbors to the south. Manalapan is required by a judge’s ruling to allow the county to pump sand across the Boynton Beach Inlet to prevent sand starvation in Ocean Ridge. Ocean Ridge also benefited from a 2015 renourishment project to widen the beach on the south side of the inlet. </em><br /> <em>ABOVE RIGHT: The town of Hillsboro Beach is suing the city of Deerfield Beach over the installation of groins along the Deerfield coast that are slowing the littoral drift and holding the sand captive. <strong>Google Earth photos</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p></div>South Palm Beach: Town facing tight deadline to start beach projecthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-town-facing-tight-deadline-to-start-beach-projec2017-03-01T20:00:00.000Z2017-03-01T20:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong><br /> <br /> South Palm Beach’s long-awaited beach stabilization project will become longer awaited still — unless the town is able to close an easement deal with oceanfront homeowners very soon. </p>
<p>The town has until March 8 to persuade a dozen property owners to sign a letter allowing contractors access to a five-eighths-mile stretch of beach so construction has at least a chance of beginning this fall. </p>
<p>Town Manager Bob Vitas says this is the absolute last in a series of deadlines that have come and gone as the property owners balked at getting onboard. He remains confident they will endorse the plan. <br /> “I think we’re good,” Vitas said. “We’re going to get it done.” <br /> Project manager Kimberly Miranda of the county’s Department of Environmental Resources Management concedes that starting construction this year is a long shot. She says the bureaucratic hurdles ahead are daunting, even if South Palm Beach gets its easements approvals soon.<br /> “Providing exact construction windows is difficult at this point since we are still in the process of obtaining permits,” Miranda said.<br /> A more reasonable starting date is November 2018, she said. But even that could be pushed back if South Palm Beach can’t convince property owners to cooperate.<br /> Vitas and Mayor Bonnie Fischer have gone door-to-door for the last year making the case for the project. Fischer has said that “false information and misunderstanding” have complicated the sales job. <br /> Condo boards have worried about giving away access to their land for 50 years, the term of the agreement. The most recent holdup has been a dispute over liability issues. At least a half-dozen condominium associations have expressed concerns over who would be responsible for possible accidents, injury or damage done by contractors. <br /> To allay those worries, county attorneys in February added a clause to the easement agreement that indemnifies property owners from liability. <br /> If South Palm Beach can’t satisfy its requirements for the north end of the project, then Lantana’s municipal beach will suffer the consequences on the south end — though the town has already signed off on easements and has been supportive of the plan.<br /> Because the project is designed and permitted as a continuous stabilization strategy, without South Palm Beach’s involvement work couldn’t begin on Lantana’s beach groins because of engineering and administrative issues.<br /> “It’s engineered as a single project with the seven groins positioned to assist each other,” Vitas said. “Separating it just won’t work. If you tried, you’d have to start over with a new design.”<br /> Starting from zero means potentially long delays, Vitas said, and Lantana Mayor Dave Stewart agrees. “If South Palm Beach doesn’t get on the train, I don’t know when we would start,” Stewart said. “You’d have to start from scratch with permitting. It could delay the project for a year or more.”<br /> The good news for Lantana is that the town doesn’t have any money at stake. Because its beach is public and the town is allowing particularly useful access for county contractors, Lantana doesn’t have to pay anything for the project.<br /> The stabilization, which will cost roughly $5 million to construct, has been in the works since shortly after Hurricane Wilma tore up the beach in 2005. <br /> The project calls for constructing seven groins — concrete panels supported by concrete piles — buried in the sand, perpendicular to the shore, stretching some 75 feet into the water. The groins begin near the northern South Palm Beach boundary and go as far south as the end of Lantana’s Municipal Beach. Four of the groins would be squarely within South Palm Beach, one on the Lantana-South Palm Beach line, and two others on Lantana’s beach. <br /> The federal government will pay 50 percent of the construction costs, the county will pay 30 percent from its tourism bed tax, and South Palm Beach will have to cover the remaining 20 percent, and also spend roughly $200,000 a year to bring in sand to keep the groins buried. <br /> If all property owners sign off on the easements, then county officials can move forward and issue work orders for contractors. Federal and state officials can then approve the final administrative details to set the project in motion.<br /> Fischer and Vitas are clinging to hope that work can begin in November and be done before turtle nesting season starts in March 2018. Vitas said some condo boards have signed the revised contract. <br /> Miranda has been studying the town’s beach since Wilma hit. She said access to the beach is essential to keeping the project alive. </p></div>