Town expects beach renourishment mobilization July 7; low bid under $39M against $47.5M budget, Pine Island federal permit pending

Town staff gave council a detailed update on the beach renourishment program at the March 13 CIP workshop, including a tentative mobilization and construction schedule, the contractor selection, and permitting status.

"We estimate our project is going to start to mobilize on July 7. It'll actually start construction about a month later in August," said Sean Leininger, the assistant town manager, who walked council through the project page on the new CIP dashboard. Leininger said staff received four bids and selected MarinX; the low bid was "just under $39,000,000," which does not include additional work such as Pine Island breakwaters.

Jeff Netzinger, the town’s engineering director, confirmed that staff estimated the breakwaters for Pine Island would add roughly $5 million to the project cost and that, as of the workshop, the federal permit for Pine Island remained pending. "We have received the state permit and the federal permit is pending right now," Leininger said. Staff told council that the project timeline and final cost remain subject to weather, final contingencies and the federal permitting process.

The town has programmed $47.5 million (the beach program figure appears in some slides as $48.8 million for the broader beach fund) in the FY26 CIP to cover renourishment and beach‑park maintenance. Leininger said, based on the bids and the current project schedule, "we are coming in on budget for everything that we've shown so far," noting that the low bid excluded breakwaters and standard contingencies.

Council members asked about staging and impacts to Islanders Beach Park, which will be used as a staging and launch point. A council member asked when a contract would be executed and when the public would be told about staging and parking impacts; Leininger said the town expects to finalize contract review and line up the contract after budget adoption, with a goal of contracting in early June if the budget is approved in early June.

Staff committed to sharing more detailed sequencing and staging schedules once the contractor and final permits are in hand. The town also said it will use multi‑channel communications — social media, project page, newsletters and direct mailings — and will coordinate with property‑owner associations and local businesses about access and parking impacts during mobilization and early construction.