City details Salt Ponds inlet plan: jetties, sand trap and roughly $2 million in CIP funding

Brian Lewis, the city's water resources engineer, gave council a technical update on Salt Ponds Inlet projects underway and planned to reduce the frequency of dredging.

Lewis reviewed completed work (a February 2018 dredging and a March 2018 sand-trap dredging) and three design projects under development: replacement of the deteriorated South Jetty (approximately 100 feet and raised to match the North Jetty), a new spur off the North Jetty to trap sand, and "sand tightening" to fill voids along the North Jetty with fabric and rock. He said consultants AECOM and Waterways and modelers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science have reviewed designs and that permit applications should be submitted to regulatory agencies "within a few weeks."

Lewis said the proposed CIP includes approximately $2,000,000 in FY19 for the work and that staff anticipate a permit "late summer, perhaps early fall" with construction after permitting and bidding. He warned that a recent nor'easter significantly eroded sand placed on Salt Ponds Beach after the dredge and that ongoing maintenance and future funding will be necessary to sustain an improved dredging cadence (the goal is to move from dredging every two years toward about every five years, contingent on performance). Council and association members discussed pier rights, channel geometry, and the economic benefits of maintaining marina access for local businesses and tourism.