Town staff told the Marine and Environmental Resource Committee that it will increase front-end reviews of exterior lighting and step up outreach to contractors and property owners after a year with notable sea‑turtle disorientations.

Chad, the town’s beach-management staff lead, summarized council direction: when exterior lighting is directly or indirectly visible from the beach it falls under the town’s sea turtle conservation code; otherwise the lighting standards code applies. He said staff will more carefully review lighting plans for single-family properties landward of the coastal construction control line and will scrutinize multifamily and commercial exterior lighting more closely to reduce disorientations.

Staff reiterated that educational tools like a turtle-viewing aid can help residents spot possible problems but are not a substitute for the town’s spectrometer or formal inspections. As Chad put it, the spectrometer is the scientific instrument staff uses for wavelength verification and FWC should be contacted first if anyone finds an injured sea turtle.

On nesting and hatchling outcomes, staff reported the 2025 nesting season totals: 113 loggerhead nests, 9,678 eggs laid, 5,646 hatched and 5,465 live hatchlings. Of those, 29 nests were noted as disoriented due to lighting. Chad described those numbers as a mixed outcome: better than the hurricane‑impacted years of 2023–24 but still showing light‑related losses along the coast.

The meeting also included a staff briefing on recent renourishment: coastal engineer Michael Poff certified the project’s placements, with a total island-wide volume reported at 927,448 cubic yards of sand placed and roughly 160,000 plants installed to stabilize dunes and beach accesses.

Staff said the U.S. Coast Guard has provided positive feedback about restoring six mooring balls and adjusting AtoN (aids to navigation) alignment near the West Mooring Field; no firm dates were provided.

Committee next steps include targeted contractor outreach, continued contractor notices about lighting requirements, and front-end review of permits to prevent disorientations during construction and rebuilding.