Workshop, hearing set for Army Corps dune project

Flagler County officials have scheduled a workshop and public hearing for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 to discuss the creation of an "erosion control line" along the Army Corps of Engineers'  dune restoration project in Flagler Beach.

The county is staging the meeting in coordination with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, officials said Thursday.

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The workshop and public hearing will be held in Commission Chambers at the Government Services Building, 1769 E. Moody Blvd., Bunnell. 

State law requires the establishment of an erosion control line before the construction of a beach renourishment project that places sand seaward of the mean high water line, which is the average of the high water elevation over a period of time. This includes the Army Corps project between South 6th and South 28th streets that is scheduled to begin in May 2020. 

“This sand placement will be the initial construction of the federal shore protection project that will slightly widen and subsequently maintain the existing beach and dunes conditions,” County Engineer Faith Alkhatib said.

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The erosion control line in this instance will be established at the mean high water line as surveyed in July. It will fix the boundary between the upland property owners — regardless of future beach erosion or accretion — and the submerged land owned by the State of Florida, the release states. 

“Staff from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Army Corps of Engineers, and I will be at the meeting to explain the Erosion Control Line, answer questions, and take public comments,” Alkhatib said in a written statement. “Maps of the Erosion Control Line will be available at the workshop and public hearing.” 

A 27-page letter and meeting notice was emailed to Flagler Beach officials and all oceanfront property owners within 1,000 feet of the proposed erosion control line. The letter is also available online at flaglercounty.org. 

Anyone with questions regarding the Flagler County-Army Corps of Engineers “Coastal Storm Risk Management Project” should contact Richard Gordon, Flagler County Assistant Engineer, at 386-313-4006 or by email at rgordon@flaglercounty.org. 

For questions regarding the erosion control line, contact William Guy Weeks, Florida Department of Environmental Protection project manager, at 850-245-7696 or by email at william.weeks@floridadep.gov.