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Surf City and Topsail Beach seek continued Pender County support for multi‑million dollar beach nourishment efforts
Summary
Town officials from Surf City and Topsail Beach told Pender County commissioners April 30 they are pursuing large coastal renourishment projects and asked the county to maintain long‑standing contributions. Presenters outlined federal authorization needs, multi‑year maintenance cycles and multi‑million‑dollar cost estimates.
Kyle Brewer, Surf City town manager, told the Pender County Board of Commissioners on April 30 that Surf City remains committed to a federal coastal storm risk mitigation (CSRM) project and asked the county to continue its annual outside‑agency contribution of $180,000 to the town’s beach nourishment fund. "We will be planning on providing another contribution of almost 5,000,000 into that fund this year," Brewer said, describing the town’s local investment and long‑term preparation.
Brewer said the CSRM project requires federal authorization and that North Topsail Beach’s earlier withdrawal as a local sponsor triggered a Corps of Engineers re‑evaluation. He told commissioners the town has been coordinating with the Corps’ district office and higher offices in Washington and Atlanta and that an initial construction cost estimate for the Surf City portion is about $34,000,000. "This will provide for a secondary dune system and protection that Surf City and the county deserve," he said, adding the dredging work could run continuously for about 16 months.
Topsail Beach officials presented a related, town‑managed renourishment approach that relies on navigation maintenance and a long‑term plan. Chris Gibson of TI Coastal said the town adopted a 30‑year plan and uses inlet navigation maintenance as a sand source. Gibson summarized the town’s cumulative work: "There’ve been 7,000,000 cubic yards of sand that have been taken out of the inlet to alleviate shoaling. That’s all been put on the beach." He gave a cumulative cost total of $88,400,000 for historic projects and described a funding mix he said included town, county, state and FEMA contributions.
Both presenters emphasized partnerships and multiple funding sources. Gibson described how the town, the county and the state use a shallow‑draft inlet fund to leverage maintenance dollars ("for every dollar that the county and the town put in . . . the state will put in 3"). Surf City’s Brewer said the town pays for beach nourishment from a combination of a dedicated ad valorem allocation, paid parking revenues and a local share of lodging taxes.
Why it matters: beach nourishment and inlet management protect local infrastructure, private property values and tourism‑dependent tax bases on Pender County’s barrier islands. The projects described require federal coordination and large local matches; timelines for design, permitting and construction stretch across multiple years and depend on bidding outcomes and potential cost escalation.
What’s next: commissioners heard the presentations and asked clarifying questions; no formal county decisions were recorded at the session. Presenters said they would continue to update the board as federal reviews and project scheduling progress.
