Carolina Dunes Association's Annual Meeting was held this morning at Sunset Grill.  Meeting minutes will be posted to the website once they have been finalized.

New Board Officers were elected.  Congratulations to:

• Dale Desnoyers (incoming President)
• Chris Blunck (incoming Vice President)
• Greg Owens (incoming Treasurer)

We thank our outbound Board Officers - Ron Blunck (outbound President) and Bob Queen (outbound Vice President).

We also welcome our new Board Members, specifically Laura Jones and Patrice Kelly.

Recent communication from the Town of Duck regarding beach erosion:

Dear Nourishment Area Oceanfront Owners and HOA contacts,
 
Recent winter storms and nor’easters have caused significant erosion in the beach nourishment area (just north of the Army Corps of Engineers Property to Skimmer Way), creating steep drop-offs and sand escarpments in several locations.
 
To improve safety and access, the Town has hired a contractor to restore and grade beach access pathways, improving routes to the flat sand beach within the nourishment area only.
 
This work began today and is expected to take several days; however, with another round of northeast winds forecasted beginning Monday the 23rd, grading work may extend into the week of Easter. Our top priority is to address community access points and the most severe drop-offs first.
 
We appreciate your patience as we work to improve beach conditions while coordinating with ongoing weather impacts.

Dear Carolina Dunes Owners,

Status:  Through February 18, we have received dues payments from 160 of our 220 properties (73%).  You are among those who have paid your 2026 dues.  THANK YOU!   As a reminder, our dues cover the annual operating costs, maintenance of beach access, shower/foot wash stations, sound lot and pier etc.  More importantly, they fund our reserve fund such that, in the event of a major hurricane, we can avoid a large capital/special assessment for walkway and pier reconstruction.

Announcement:  For future dues payments, we are happy to make available to you a new, no fee, electronic dues payment method using Zelle.  To make a payment via Zelle, please send the payment to our email address, [email protected], through your banking on-line portal for Zelle.  You must have a Zelle account established for this.

We will continue accepting Venmo payments, as well.  Unfortunately, however, we are discontinuing the acceptance of Paypal due to technology compatibility issues with our receiving bank.


In summary, our dues payment methods are now:

1.  Paper Check:  Mail $200 check to Carolina Dunes Association, PO Box 8153, Duck, NC 27949
2.  Venmo: Send your payment for $205 to cover fees to @cdaducknc through your venmo app
3.  Zelle:  Send your payment for $200 to [email protected] through your banking app or website

Please indicate your name and property address in the memo field for all payments.

Thank you again for your 2026 payment and your continuing support of our community and our amenities for 2026!

A call was had today with the Town (Drew Havens, et al).  It went well.  Here's a brief summary of what we discussed:

1. The Town is aware of the beach condition.  There's erosion/escarpment in multiple places throughout Town.
2. The biggest erosion/escarpment in Town is in Carolina Dunes CD), especially in the northern end of CD.  While that's unfortunate, it's not different from past erosion/escarpment events.
3. There are two rows of sand fences throughout most in CD, on the east side of the dune.  Some of the fences closest to the ocean have been damaged and will need to be repaired/replaced.  The Town will handle this, probably starting around Easter.
4. The dune itself is still mostly intact and is still providing a protective barrier to oceanfront homes and structures.  There's no immediate danger of damage to homes and structures.
5. The CD access points:
   • Sprigtail.  Erosion/escarpment is high here.  To be safe, avoid using this access.
   • Canvasback/Wood Duck.  Erosion/escarpment is high but slightly less here.  To be safe, however, avoid using this access.
   • Widgeon.  Erosion/escarpment is much smaller here, so far.  Most people can reasonably use this access.  So, everyone is encouraged to use this access point at this time.
6. Depending upon future wind and weather, more erosion/escarpment may occur over the next several months.  
7. Mitigation steps:
   • Short term (now).  There's not a lot that can be done.  However, anyone can install posts&ropes or posts&rails if they want.  No permit is required.  However, installation of steps (anywhere in the nourishment area) is not allowed.  Sand pushes are also not allowed.  As hardy people use all of the access walkways, they will naturally wear a path to the beach over time.  Foot traffic will reduce the extreme escarpment and may make it a little easier for people to get to the beach.  However, make sure you feel hardy if you want to use the Sprigtail and Canvasback/Wood Duck access points.
   • Intermediate term (starting around Easter).  The Town will scrape down the erosion/escarpment (probably with a bobcat) at the 3 CD community access point and at private access points, assuming they can see where the private access points are and that there are no obstacles or barriers to safely scraping the sand there. It would probably be a good idea for oceanfront property owners to talk with the Town around Easter if you are interested in the Town scraping your existing private access walkway.
   • Long term.  The next nourishment project is currently planned for 2027.
8. Contact the Town (252-255-1234).  Owners are encouraged to call the Town if they have questions or concerns.

Let's hope for moderate weather and wind over the next several months!

​Attached are some pictures Dale Desnoyers recently took.   Thank you Dale!

As you can tell, the streets are now looking pretty good, but there's erosion on the beach.  I'll be talking with the Town about the erosion to see if they might do anything over the next month or so, especially at the community walkways.

​Thanks to CDA Board Member Paul Forst, our northern community sign landscaping has gotten a facelift.  Thank you Paul & Kathy!

Tim Weir helps with watering the shrubs there.  Thank you Tim & Debbie!

I hope you can make it to Duck and enjoy the Fall weather!

The Town of Duck recently purchased a tract of land in the Village area known as the Herron property and they have decided to utilize this property.  To that end, they are asking Duck property owners for comments and feedback.

If you are interested, you can fill out the survey here.

The following items were emailed out to community members:

• Updated Community Directory
• Updated Vendor Reference List

Additionally, off-season trash collection begins October 1.  Recap:

• Regular Trash:  Mondays ONLY
• Recyclable Material:  1st and 3rd Mondays of the Month

Posts and handrails at the ocean access points have been adjusted and repaired.

​The northern community sign has been removed for refurbishment.