Pender County beach towns outline Corps-led renourishment project; initial construction expected in December

Surf City and Topsail Beach officials told Pender County commissioners that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers coastal storm risk management project for Topsail Island is moving toward initial construction in December and will require substantial local funding and year-round dredging.

Kyle Brewer, town manager for Surf City, said the Corps project is expected to begin ‘‘in December of this year’’ and will be a 16-month, year‑round dredging operation that uses offshore borrow sites for initial construction and establishes a 50‑year renourishment program with periodic renourishments every six years.

The project’s initial construction cost estimate discussed in the meeting was approximately $187,000,000. Chris Gibson, an engineer with T.I. Coastal who has worked on island projects for decades, explained that the Army Corps project carries a roughly 65% federal cost share and a 35% local share; Surf City’s local obligation (about 17.5% of the total) was described as roughly $32,000,000 for initial construction. Periodic nourishment over 50 years was estimated in discussion at about $317,000,000.

Why it matters: the plan is intended to rebuild dunes and protective berms, protect homes and infrastructure, and preserve the islands’ recreational beaches, which local officials said are important to the tourism economy.

Officials outlined recent and interim work to reduce the scale and cost of the Corps project. Brewer said Surf City completed an intermediate project this spring that placed about 585,000 cubic yards of sand from Banks Channel on six miles of Surf City beach; the project cost about $18,000,000, with Surf City’s contribution about $4,000,000. Topsail Beach officials described a series of navigation and beneficial‑use projects over the last 15 years totaling roughly 6–7 million cubic yards of sand and about $88,000,000 of investment by towns, county, state and federal sources.

Funding tools and limits: presenters described a three-legged local funding strategy: a 10¢ ad valorem property tax set aside for beach nourishment (reported as generating roughly $2,000,000 annually into Surf City’s beach fund), a direct transfer of 3% of accommodations tax into town beach funds, and paid‑parking net revenues. Brewer said parking net revenues are ‘‘a little less than a million annually’’ but vary with weather and visitation. Topsail Beach officials said their current beach fund stood at about $5.656 million and that they expect to receive about $350,000 more from state reimbursements.

Presenters also described use of a North Carolina shallow‑draft navigation fund that provides a 3:1 state matching ratio for qualifying beneficial‑use dredging and cited intermittent federal reimbursements through FEMA after storms. Doug Shipley, Topsail Beach town manager, described repeated appeals and arbitration related to FEMA reimbursements after Hurricane Isaias and said that uncertainty has pressured the town to consider increasing its local tax allocation (Topsail Beach is discussing raising its ad valorem transfer from 6.75¢ to 10¢). Brewer said Surf City created a dedicated beach fund in 2012 by adopting a 10¢ ad valorem increment and transferring accommodations tax receipts directly to beach work.

Environmental and operational notes: Gibson emphasized the operational constraints of dredging—‘‘weather, weather, and weather’’—and noted that Surf City lacks an inlet borrow source, so Surf City must rely primarily on offshore sources, which raises cost and complexity. Officials said the Corps project will include a constructed dune template intended to provide storm protection and recreational beach and that the Corps’ project would establish a renourishment schedule where the Corps returns approximately every six years to rebuild the template, with local/federal cost shares for periodic nourishment.

Local ecological issues were also discussed. Town officials described coordination needs with sea‑turtle protection groups during year‑round dredging and renourishment work. The commission also described a grant‑funded beach vitex eradication project (vitex is an invasive dune plant) awarded at a 1:1 cost share; officials said the initial grant round was about $690,000 and that bids came in under that amount.

Political and program risks: presenters warned of federal policy uncertainty. Shipley and other speakers said federal programs and guidance—authorizations through the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) and FEMA public‑assistance rules for beach work after storms (often called Category G)—are subject to policy change, which could affect future renourishment authorization and reimbursement. They urged continued coordination among the three towns, Pender County and state and federal partners.

Commissioner questions and county response: commissioners asked how the county’s 3% accommodations transfer is used. Officials said towns use the direct transfer for beach funds and to maintain crossovers, boardwalks and visitor programs; Surf City described some direct transfers that also cover parking program costs. County commissioners thanked the towns for the briefing and said they want further collaboration.

What’s next: local officials said they will continue financial planning, pursue state reimbursements for completed work, and coordinate with the Army Corps on the Corps preconstruction activities and general reevaluation requirements that followed North Topsail Beach’s withdrawal from the joint project earlier in the decade.

"We're gonna have to have some bake sales and everything we possibly can to be able to afford this project," Brewer said of the local funding challenge, a remark he used to emphasize the scale of local contributions required. Gibson added a caution about operations: "weather, weather, and weather."