Town Finalizes Funding for Beach Restoration
Project
A Special Town Council meeting on
the Beach Restoration Project was held on Thursday, February 23,
2006, following an Executive Session on contractual matters. At
that special meeting, the Council unanimously approved an amended
beach renourishment plan to move approximately 500,000 cubic yards
of sand in an attempt to stem the severe beach erosion at the
eastern end of the Island. The amended plan, which the Town will
file today with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS),
minimizes any potential impact to the area where piping plovers
“winter” on Kiawah. This change is expected to eliminate the
Audubon Society’s objection to the work; the Town believes the USFWS
will therefore issue the permit.
Construction costs – which cover the
actual renourishment work itself – will be shared among several
entities. As previously announced, The Kiawah Island Community
Association will contribute 25%, to a maximum of $500,000. Kiawah
Island Golf Resort will fund 15%, to a maximum of $300,000, not the
25% Town Council voted to request after the Special Town Council
meeting on Friday, February 17. The 15% the Resort will donate is
in addition to the more than $300,000 the Resort has already spent
scraping sand for the past several months. In addition to this
previously announced cost sharing, the funding approved on Friday
includes a 5% contribution from Kiawah Development Partners, the
successor firm to KRA. The Town will fund the remaining 55% of the
renourishment work, which, according to the Town’s website, is
estimated to cost 1-1.5 million dollars. The cost of the revised
plan is significantly lower than the cost of the initial plan.
After some
preliminary inquiries, the Town believes there are a number of firms
which will bid on the renourishment project. While awaiting permit
approval, it is proceeding with plans to finalize a Request for
Proposal (RFP) to enable the Town to proceed with the project as
quickly as possible once the necessary permits have been secured. |
