First of all, I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving day!
Yesterday, I called Bobby Outten (he is both the Dare County Executive and the Dare County Attorney), and he willingly and openly spoke with me regarding the nourishment project. In summary, here's what he said:
I know this is not the best news, but it may be the best given current realities that we are facing. If beach nourishment ends up being completed by mid-May, maybe we can live with that.
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The Town announced yesterday that the beach nourishment schedule in Duck has been delayed again, and nourishment is now projected to happen sometime between March and mid-May of 2023.
Here's a link to the Town's announcement: https://www.townofduck.com/beach-nourishment-project/beach-nourishment-schedule-update-november-22/ I find this announcement unfortunate and unsettling, and I am not sure how solid the new dates are. The beach nourishment project contract is between Weeks Marine and Dare County. The contract is not with the Town of Duck, but the Town was obviously part of the contract negotiations. I thought the nourishment contract had a 12/31/2022 deadline in it, and presumably the contract also had a penalty clause in it for non-compliance with that deadline, but I don't know that for sure. I have a call into the Dare County executive offices to get more information, and I will share that with you when they respond. I wish I had better news on this, but I don't. I've received several questions about how the meeting/zoom call went on Thursday and what follow up steps there may be.
I attended the meeting via zoom. It appeared to me that there were 20 or more owners who attended in person and another 20 or so more who attended via zoom. The meeting lasted about 2.5 hours. Vesta presented material (slides and verbal comments) and responded to many questions. Everyone participating could hear the on-site questions and responses. The zoom questions were raised via zoom-chat. Many of these questions were responded to via chat, but you had to be on zoom to read the responses. I'm not sure that all of the chat questions were answered. Overall, there were many questions and concerns expressed. Some owners appeared to be supportive of the Vesta project. A larger number of owners appeared to have concerns and appeared to oppose it. One fundamental follow-up question raised was - what's the decision-making process and timeline? I think this was partially answered in the meeting, but I don't think it was entirely answered. Here's what I know about that question based upon talking with CAMA:
Then, if you wish to communicate (in support of or opposed to) with the 3 government agencies, here's how to do that:
An environmental research organization named Project Vesta is proposing a project in Duck in 2023. As best I know, here's a description of their organization and proposed project:
While Vesta has met with the Town, they are now reaching out to Duck property owners to describe their project and address any property owner questions/concerns. They hope property owners will agree with and support their project. If you have questions or concerns about this research project, you can attend an informational meeting in person at Keller Hall on Nov 17th at 5:30 PM or you can sign up for Zoom attendance by emailing KNickens@TownOfDuck.com or you can email your questions/concerns directly to Vesta at cheyenne@vesta.earth Miriam Rollins, a Duck HOA Forum member from the Plover subdivision, asked that I pass along to you a petition (see attached) to the Town opposing additional vehicular traffic on the beach coming from a new Town-sponsored ocean access point at Barrier Island.
If you have a concern over additional vehicular traffic on the beach and agree with the language in the petition, you can email your agreement to Miriam (marollin@icloud.com) or you can email your comments/questions directly to the Town Council members (don.kingston@townofduck.com, monica.thibodeau@townofduck.com, sandy.whitman@townofduck.com, rob.mooney@townofduck.com, tony.schiano@townofduck.com, dhavens@townofduck.com). The Town Council will be discussing this issue at their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday (11/2), so it's important to communicate any concerns/questions you may have before then. Feel free to CC me on any email you may send if you like. The CDA Board is reviewing this and will probably also send an email to the Town. Regards, Ron Blunck CDA President and Duck HOA Forum Founder/Coordinator On Mon, Oct 24, 2022 at 5:55 PM Ron Blunck <ron@thebluncks.com> wrote: Dear Duck Forum Members, Miriam Rollins, a Forum member from the Plover subdivision, asked that I pass along to you her string of emails with the Town regarding several issues associated with (1) future vehicular traffic on the beach at Barrier Island, (2) access to the beach to support beach nourishment this year and (3) the Army Pier refusal to allow much Town access to the beach at the pier. I think the biggest and most pressing issue at this time is issue #2, future vehicular traffic on the beach at Barrier Island. I think the Town has already signed an agreement with Barrier Island to fund and construct a beach access point that will support beach nourishment and also allow Barrier Island owners and guests to drive on the beach during the off-season, So, I think the agreement to fund and construct the access point is a done-deal at this point and therefore not subject to much discussion. What I think is still open for public input and discussion are the Town rules that would control vehicular traffic on the beach. I think the Town Council will be discussing this at the November Council meeting and at the Town Retreat in Jan/Feb. If you have comments or feedback on any of the issues in the string of emails below, especially regarding vehicular traffic on the beach, you are encouraged to directly communicate that to the Town Council and Town Manager. Their email addresses are included in Miriam's email below. Feel free to CC me on any email you may send if you like. Beach nourishment in Duck will be starting soon. The Town just provided the following details:
Weeks Marine has updated the beach nourishment schedule for Duck. Actual construction is now expected to begin in late October with an estimated project duration of 30-35 days. Staging is expected to begin this Wednesday, October 19 with the Installation of the subline near North Snow Geese Drive. The access point to the beach for mobilization of the equipment is in Southern Shores. Please exercise caution as heavy equipment will be moving up the beach from the Duck town line to the construction area. Please note that this schedule is tentative and subject to change based on a number of factors, including weather conditions, equipment issues, and other extenuating circumstances. For more information on the project please visit our more beach to love website. Regular Trash. The off-season regular trash collection is now back to one time each week, which are Mondays. So, regular trash will now be picked up on Mondays and none on Fridays.
Recyclable Trash. The off-season recyclable trash will begin Nov 1st and will be back to the 1st and 3rd Mondays each month starting then. For October, the recyclable collections will remain every Monday. As a reminder, let's help our neighbors when we are in Town by rolling back their trash cans (at least 10-15 feet up their driveways) if you can. Having fewer empty trash cans on the street will improve the appearance of our streets. Here's information the Town released relative to the Fall bulk waste collection on Oct 14th.
Note the rules on what will be picked up and a new requirement to complete an online form if you have items for them to pick up. Let's hope Hurricane Ian misses us. Best, Ron Blunck CDA President THE NEXT SEMI-ANNUAL BULK WASTE COLLECTION IS SCHEDULED FOR Fall 2022 Bulk Waste Curbside Collection scheduled for Friday, October 14, 2022
· Yard and vegetative debris must be bagged or CLEARLY tied into bundles of four (4) foot lengths or less weighing NO MORE than 50 pounds each. Waste Management does not use a truck with a mechanical arm and, therefore, the bundle MUST be manageable for a single person to handle. · Vegetative debris left in piles WILL NOT be collected. The Carolina Dunes Annual Meeting was held today at Sunset Grill. It marked a new chapter in the history of our community - our first hybrid in-person and online Annual Meeting. A recording of the meeting is available below for those who were not able to attend!
Rhonda McKeever and Howard Richman both reported the sand has been graded by the Town around our access walkways. I bugged the Town about this, and they finally got to it.
It is now much easier getting to/from the beach. Enjoy. Thank you Rhonda & Howard for providing status and the picture. |
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