Dare County outlines beach nourishment plan for Buxton and Avon, cites pending federal permits and funding uncertainty

Dare County Manager Bobby Outen and engineers updated residents Feb. 13 on a planned beach nourishment project for Buxton and Avon, saying state permits arrived this week, a National Park Service draft permit is in hand and the county is awaiting U.S. Army Corps of Engineers federal approvals before awarding contracts.

The county’s consultant, Steven Trainham, president of Coastal Science and Engineering, said the work will use offshore sand—likely via hopper dredges—to place dunes where landward space permits and to nourish the berm along the National Seashore. “Final volumes are still to be determined based off the amount of funding that we do receive from FEMA,” Trainham said, adding that the design shown in current permits could change depending on the federal contribution.

Outen told the assembled residents that bids for the combined projects came in “higher than we expected,” and that the county bid the work with and without FEMA money to understand options. He said FEMA has committed to paying a portion of the project but the county has not yet received the funds. If federal permits and funding fall into place on the schedule Trainham outlined, the county could issue a notice to proceed in early…