Flagler County, FL- Two special assessment districts have been created by the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners for seawall and dune restoration following recent hurricanes.
One of the districts unanimously approved is for seawall construction near Painters Hill, and the other is for dune restoration and protective berms between Varn Park and MalaCompra Park in the Hammock. On October 7, 2016, Hurricane Matthew eroded beaches, destroyed dunes, and damages public and private structures. On September 11, 2017, Hurricane Irma eroded the dunes even further.
“We are approaching the end of our preparations in order to begin these projects,” said Craig Coffey, County Administrator. “This is a necessary step in the process to fund these projects.”
Coffey said that the need for seawall construction in Painters Hill is not obvious from A1A. He said that the beach side of the properties shows the true extent of the threat. Coffey says the seawall will be back-filled and that there will be sand in front of it.
The Seawall District will include the creation of 1,311 linear feet, or about one-quarter mile, of seawall that protects 21 properties. Two of those properties already have seawalls and two return walls. The district set a maximum assessment and 15 annual payments to pay for the project.
In order for the Dunes District agreement to be made, two homeowners associations and the Ocean Course at Hammock Beach club had to agree. 19 property owner agreed to help facilitate seawall construction projects in the Seawall District. These oceanfront properties agreed to pay for some of the costs to build seawalls to protect their property.
The Dune District will include the creation of a 4.3-mile dune made from 8-10 cubic yards of sand. The maximum assessment the district set will be paid in 1 initial payment and 5 annual payments.
“I want to compliment the county staff for the work they did,” said Jim Ulsamer with the Ocean Hammock homeowners association. “There was no playbook … I don’t think anyone thought it would take this long, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort.”
Photo courtesy of Amie Torres and Shutterstock.com.
Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.
