Holden
BY DOUG RUTTER
Holden Beach officials have
spent eight hours huddled at the
conference t^ble in town hall over
the past week preparing for what
Mayor John Tandy says is the
biggest project in town history.
Hurricane Hugo's storm surge
wiped out about 90 percent of the
dunes on the island last month. But
since last Friday, town officials
have developed a plan to build a
seven mile-long dune using about
230,000 cubic yards of sand that
would be pushed up from the wa
ter's edge.
The approved dune design,
worked out during a four-hour
board meeting last Friday, calls for
the dune to be built to a height of
six feel above the high water mark
and 10 feet flat across the top.
After meeting another four hours
Monday, commissioners approved
the bid specifications. Board mem
bers planned to meet again
Wednesday at 4 p.m. to open bids
and possibly award a contract for
the project
Commissioners agreed to divide
the island into three sections for the
bidding process, and contractors
were invited to bid on any or all of
the sections. They run from the east
end to the fishing pier, the pier to
Beach Commissioners Plan For New Frontal Dune
Sword fish Drive and from Sword
fish to the west end.
Contractors were also given the
option of bidding on the whole pro
ject However, when the board met
with seven local contractors
Monday morning, only one indicat
ed that his firm could handle the en
tire project.
Most said they didn't have
enough equipment to handle it, es
pecially since they will only be able
to work a few hours a day on low
tide. They also said it will take
longer to complete the project than
the town is allowing, even though
bulldozers will be permitted to
work around the clock.
The town will require that work
begin no more than seven days after
the contract is awarded. The board
also set a 60-day completion dead
line on the project
Mayor Tandy told contractors
that the town wants the dune fin
ished before the winter storm sea
son arrives. "That's she reason for
the quickness and the urgency," he
said. "It is an emergency."
Though specifications call for a
dune with at least a 40-foot base,
the size of the dune will vary. In
some areas, particularly on the east
end where there are bulkheads,
there is not enough room to accom
"Mother Nature takes a long time to
completely restore the beach following
one of these events."
? Tom Jarrett
Corps of Engineers
modate a large dune.
Sand for the new dune would be
scooped up between the low water
line and a natural berm that has
started to form in some areas of the
beach since the hurricane.
Wherever possible, the dune
would be constructed so it doesn't
interfere with sand piles property
owners have had pushed up to pro
tect their own lots. Also, the new
dune would run in a straight line
down the beach as much as possi
ble.
Holden Beach plans to hire a sur
veyor to do topographical work be
fore and after the dune is built to
determine the amount of sand that is
pushed. Town officials estimated
that work will cost about $10,000.
Town board members didn't ex
pect to have a estimated cost of the
dune project until bids were opened
Wednesday afternoon. But they
started talking about possible fund
ing sources last week.
Commissioner Bob Buck submit
ted a proposal that would free up
more than $500,000 for dune con
struction. Under his plan, the town
would take $300,000 out of the
fund balance, leaving approximate
ly $220,000 in that reserve fund.
Also, he figured the town could
take about $170,000 from the cur
rent year's budget, including
$85,150 for the paving of
Brunswick Avenue West and
$40,000 for sidewalk construction.
The town also has $60,000 in a spe
cial dune replacement fund it start
ed three years ago.
To recoup the street paving and
sidewalk funds and other money
lost this year, Buck proposed a one
time, five-cent tax rate increase and
a special assessment of $200 on
oceanfront lots.
That plan could allow the town to
reimburse beachfront property own
ers who paid contractors to build
dunes to protect their home. Town
officials said more than 200 proper
ty owners have hired contractors to
push sand with bulldozers. The go
ing rate is about $350 per lot.
The town's dune design was
based on a suggestion from Tom
Jarrett, chief of coastal engineering
with the Army Corps of Engineers
in Wilmington.
At the start of last Friday's meet
ing, Jarrett spoke with officials
about conditions on the beach fol
lowing the hurricane and what the
town can do to rebuild a frontal
dune.
At the outset, Jairett said the
town can continue to push some
sand from the beach to form dunes.
But he explained that the ideal way
to rebuild the dune is to add new
material, even though it's more ex
pensive.
He recommended the town use
truck loads of sand to rebuild a siz
able dune and agreed with board
members that the town does not
need to hire an engineer to design a
new dune.
Jarrett said much of the sand
from the dunes that existed before
Hugo had washed into the ocean as
a result of the storm. The sand will
slowly return to the beach and the
dune will rebuild itself over a long
period of time if there arc no major
storms, he said.
"Mother Nature takes a long time
to completely restore the beach fol
lowing one of these events," said
Jarreu. "It takes years for the natu
ral recovery to occur."
As far as a long-term beach re
nourishment project is concerned,
Jarreu said Holden Beach could be
included in an ongoing Corps of
Engineers study on Oak Island. But
he said it would be approximately
four years before the study would
yield any results, and that any pro
jects would be very costly.
"The thing about a beach re nour
ishment project is you have to keep
doing it. It's not a one-time thing,"
he said. "It's an expensive proposi
tion."
Jarrett estimated it would cost a
few million dollars per mile to start
a renourishment project on Holden
Beach and up to a half million dol
lars per mile each year to maintain
the beach.
With talk of building a new dune
on the island, officials agreed last
week the town needs an ordinance
prohibiting people from walking
over dunes. The planning board
submitted a proposal earlier this
year addressing those matters, but it
was never acted upon by commis
sioners.
issHHPP^ mm m"mmm
STAFF PHOTO BY SUSAN USHER
Local Artists Boost Literacy
Artists from Winnabow to Calabash to Southport are contributing prints, original works or art, pho
tographs and handcrafted items for the Brunswick County Literacy Council's first Art For Literacy pro
ject. Standing, from the left, are Barbara Stanley, Shallotte, and Gerri Piazza, Seaside; and kneeling,
Janice Taylor and Bryan Varnam, Holden Beach, and Eugene Tomlinson, Southport. Winners of the do
nated artwork will be announced at the Oct. 28 N.C. Festival By The Sea Street Dance. Information re
garding the project is available from BCLC volunteers and from the council office, 754-7323. The council
trains and places volunteer reading tutors who work primarily with adults. The art project is being coor
dinated by a council VISTA volunteer, Shelia Ward.
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Holden Beach POA Promises
Revised Candidates' Night
The Holden Beach Property Ow
ners Association promises a revised
format this year at its biennial
"Moct The Candidates" night
Each candidate for town office
will respond to a different set of
questions, and for the first time,
members of the audience will par
ticipate in the candidates forum.
Coordinator Daphne Foumicr said
the meeting will be held Tuesday,
Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. in town hall.
Nine candidates, including four
incumbents, are seeking five seats
up for election this year on the town
board of commissioners. They are
William Williamson, Gay Atkins,
Bob Buck and Gil Bass, all incum
bents, and Odis Aleck Alcxiou,
George Bradshaw, Carole Rogers,
Don Pollard, Kenncr Amos, Gloria
Barrett and Judy Bryan.
Following brief introductions,
Mrs. Foumier said all nine commis
sion candidates will be given three
questions and six minutes to re
spond to all three. The three ques
tions for each candidate will be
chosen at random from a list of six
questions, she said.
The order of response will also
be dccided at random by choosing
slips of paper out of a box, said
Mrs. Foumier. "We're totally
changing the format this time."
In past years, she said all candi
dates have answered the same ques
tions and certain candidates have
been at an advantage or disadvan
tage depending on where they sat at
the head table.
Mrs. Fournicr said some candi
dates have been able to get by in the
past without knowing the issues by
"parroting" what other candidates
had said. "I believe if they are run
ning for office they need to do their
homework and know what the resi
dents of this island care about," she
said.
Incumbent Mayor John Tandy
faces no opposition in his bid for re
election this fall. Mrs. Foumier said
he will be given three minutes at the
start of the meeting to introduce
himself and talk about the issues he
views as important
Once all of the candidates have
responded to the prepared ques
tions, she said members of the audi
ence will be permitted to ask ques
tions. Each person in the audience
will be limited to one question, she
said, and it must be directed to a
specific candidate.
Mrs. Foumier said last week all
10 candidates have been notified of
the meeting in writing. "We have
invited them all, and if they're
smart they'll be there," she said.
All candidates have attended in
pa^? years, she said, and there is al
ways a good turnout of resident vot
ers.
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