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:

1. Weeks Marine, the nourishment contractor, has a second current project/contract in Norfolk VA with the federal govt.  
2. Weeks can't complete both projects by the end of December 2022, so they made a business decision to do the federal project first and the Duck project second.  
   • I'm sure the federal contract involves more money for Weeks and the feds are more likely to sue Weeks than Dare Co if the Norfolk project isn't completed on-time.
3. Dare County has a couple of options:
   • Amend the Weeks contract.  This is the preferred option for Dare County.
     • New nourishment dates of March to mid-May 2023.
     • New requirement to add additional sand at no extra cost to cover any new erosion that may happen between now and March.
     • New requirement to add additional sand at no extra cost if there is a new major storm between now and March.
     • New requirement to repair any walkways at no extra costs if any walkways get damaged between now and March.
     • Add a 'liquidation penalty' clause that would pay Dare County for the larger of (a) actual damages or (b) $5-$6K per day if the Duck nourishment isn't completed by mid-May.  The purpose of this clause would be to 'make us whole' if Weeks fails on the amended contract.
     • Dare County and Weeks have already verbally discussed these points.  According to Bobby, Weeks is OK with them and appears to be ready and willing to amend the contract accordingly.
     • Dare County and Weeks will be meeting next week to actually amend the contract and re-sign it.
   • Sue Weeks for breach of the current contract.  This is not the preferred option for Dare County.
     • While this could be done, it would probably take a year or more to complete.  In the meantime, the Duck project would probably be completed anyway.

My sense is that Bobby Outten is dealing with this sincerely and expeditiously and is pursuing this with the best option available under the circumstances.  While the Town plays a small role in this, this is mostly a Dare County issue at this time.  I will follow up with Bobby next week to see how the contract amendment discussions go with Weeks.

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.  

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:

1. There are 3 government agencies who will review the CAMA application and decide on acceptance or rejection of the proposed project.  They are:
   • NC CAMA
   • NC Water Quality Agency
   • Federal Army Corps of Engineers
2. Each of these agencies has their own acceptance rules that must be followed.  If their respective rules are followed, the application will be accepted by each agency.  
3. There are rules for public (and other government agency entities) notification and gathering of public comments., but I think this is a check-box rule.  I'm not sure the nature of any public comment matters much in the final decision-making, unless a public comment identifies some non-compliance issue with an acceptance rule. 
4. The 3 agencies above have 75 days to accept/reject an application.  That time frame can be extended another 75 days.  Since the original application was submitted in Sept, the first 75-day period is nearly up, so it's likely there will be 75 more days for processing.

In terms of what any property owner can do more at this point, the options are limited.  

• If you are supportive of the Vesta project, you can communicate that in writing to one or more of the 3 government agencies listed above.
• If you are opposed to the Vesta project, you can communicate that in writing to one or more of the 3 government agencies listed above. The most effective objection would be to identify some non-compliance issue relative to any of the acceptance rules.  

If you wish to review the acceptance rules, I'm told they are available online as follows:

• NC CAMA.  DEQ.NC.gov.  Select Coastal Management as the division, and look for Permits & Rules.
• NC Water Quality Agency.   DEQ.NC.gov.  Select Water Resources as the division, and look for Permits & Rules.
• Federal Army Corps of Engineers.  www.saw.usace.army.mil.  Under Mission look for Regulatory Permit Program.

Then, if you wish to communicate (in support of or opposed to) with the 3 government agencies, here's how to do that:

• NC CAMA.  Email Heather Coates at [email protected]
• NC Water Quality Agency.   Email Heather Coates at [email protected]  She will communicate this to NC Water Quality.
• Federal Army Corps of Engineers.  Follow the  Public Notice procedure attached to this email.

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:

1. Vesta researches alternatives that address environmental issues.  One of the issues is reducing CO2 in the atmosphere, which is a greenhouse gas.
2. Vesta is relatively new, has 2 research projects currently underway (both outside of NC), and their proposed project in Duck would be #3.
3. As I understand it, the proposed project in Duck:
   • Would place about 10K cubic yards of olivine sand approximately 1500 feet off-shore in an area north of the Army Pier where the water depth is about 15-25 feet..  The max height of the sand placed on the ocean floor offshore would initially be 5 feet or less.  This sand would then move around and level out over time as most ocean sand does.
   • Olivine sand absorbs CO2, which they hope would reduce measurable amounts of this greenhouse gas in the project area.
   • The olivine sand would be mined, milled and prepared so it matches the native sands on the Duck beaches.
   • The olivine sand would be brought in on barge(s) with no planned impact on roads or beaches in Duck.
   • The olivine sand would slightly supplement the 2022 beach nourishment sand, but the olivine sand would be small and only add about 3% to the nourishment sand.
   • Over time, Vesta would monitor the olivine sand, how it migrates on the ocean floor and how much CO2 it absorbs.
   • Vesta  asked the Town of Duck for a letter of support, which I think was provided.  As far as I know, Vesta has not asked the Town for funding.

This is a research project at this time with likely limited long term benefit or impact on Duck's beaches.  

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 [email protected] or you can email your questions/concerns directly to Vesta at [email protected]