Sunset Beach council schedules June 13 public hearing on dredging special assessment after multi-year project update

Town of Sunset Beach staff presented an extensive review of the town's initial navigational dredging project at the May 14 special meeting and the council voted to schedule a public hearing on the special assessment role for June 13, 2025.

Miss Angland and project supervisor Dustin Graham summarized the history, permitting, construction and monitoring of the dredging program. They said the project began with authority granted by the North Carolina General Assembly, moved through engineering and multiple permit processes (including Division of Coastal Management/CAMA, the Army Corps of Engineers and DEQ), and was constructed in seasonal windows over three dredging seasons (Nov. 16'Mar. 31 for 2021'2024, noting moratoria on estuarine work April 1'Nov. 15).

Presenters reported dredged volumes and material handling: 51,025 cubic yards of beach-compatible sand were hydraulically placed nearshore between 3rd and 13th Street; 39,601 cubic yards of non-compatible material were trucked to a permitted disposal site off Georgetown Road. Shellfish-relocation efforts were reported (winter relocation: 124 bushels of oysters, 189 clams and two mussels; fall relocation: 406 bushels of oysters, 75 clams and 22 mussels). Staff also described as-built surveys and agency-required monitoring.

On funding, staff presented state grant awards and amendments, and a total project cost figure. The presentation listed a total project cost of $7,710,145.15 and total grant funding figures that together reduced the town's share; during a motion later in the meeting a larger figure was read aloud (recorded in the transcript as $77,681,194.15). The council proceeded to direct preparation of a preliminary assessment role, order mailings to benefited property owners, and set a public hearing for June 13, 2025, at 9 a.m. Staff said the preliminary assessment schedule will show an assessment amount per parcel (presentation included a per-parcel figure presented aloud as $835; the transcript contains some garbled numeric readings in packet text).

Staff said next steps include completing the assessment roll, maintaining permits for future maintenance dredging, working with an engineering firm to set long-term benchmarks and schedules, and securing a permanent spoils location for future projects. Officials noted neighboring towns have multi-year maintenance plans and assessment intervals of five to 10 years.

Council motion: A councilmember moved and the motion was seconded to "declare total project cost and prepare the preliminary assessment roll and schedule a public hearing for June 13, 2025 at 9:00 a.m., and order the mailing to benefited property owners." The motion carried and the council set the hearing date.

Next steps: the town will mail notices to affected property owners and hold the June 13 public hearing; staff will finalize assessment calculations and post supporting study materials online.