August 23,2006

Flagler Beach City Commission to interview Coastal Engineer
August 23, 9am, Flagler Beach Fire Station Meeting Room

Your input is needed! Please read! (available for download here if you prefer)

In an effort to ameliorate the beach erosion crisis in Flagler Beach, the City Commission has issued an invitation to coastal engineering firms to apply to contract with the City to perform two tasks: 

1) to conduct a “sand search” study, and

2) to develop an RFP (Request For Proposals) from firms wishing to demonstrate alternative solutions to dredging and filling.

Some people are confused, and rightfully so, about why we are apparently asking for two conflicting tasks; whether they are required; and whether they are related in some way.

The last point is the simplest to answer. The tasks are two totally separate things and have nothing to do with one another. They will also be paid for from two different sources. What follows is a brief explanation of each.

Federal and Flagler County…Hurricane and Storm Damage Reduction Study – Feasibility Phase – Project Management Plan

This is a study authorized by the US House of Representatives (HR 2676) requesting the Secretary of the Army (through the Army Corps of Engineers) to “review the feasibility of providing shoreline erosion protection, hurricane and storm damage reduction, and related purposes to the shores of Flagler County, Florida.”

Called a Feasibility Study for short, this began in September, 2004, with a total cost estimate of $1.3 million. It is scheduled to be completed in July, 2007, but as of today the cost has risen to $1.7 million.

One of the three stated objectives of the study is to:  “… identify feasible and environmentally acceptable sand sources (emphasis added) for the restoration of eroded beaches.” This part of the study is more commonly known as a “sand search,” and it is for this part of the study that Flagler Beach plans to hire a Coastal Engineer.

The plan for implementation of the study calls for “Coastal Engineering” and “Geotechnical” studies to investigate topics such as “design fill volume” (how much fill will be needed), “advance nourishment” (“long term erosion losses of  the project fill”), “future periodic nourishment” (meaning how soon the beach will need to be RE-nourished, and how much sand will be needed then), “sand source identification,” and the “core-boring program” (drilling). 

From this it is clear that the conclusion of the study will be to deal with the beach erosion problem by putting dredged sand on Flagler’s beach, since this is the only alternative being considered. It is also clear from the language of the study that the Corps does not consider dredging and filling—what it calls “beach nourishment”—to be a permanent, one-time solution.

The entire shoreline of Flagler County, not just that of the City of Flagler Beach, is the focus of the study. And Flagler County, NOT the City of Flagler Beach, is named as the non-Federal Sponsor and the entity required to finance 50% of the costs of the study (the Federal Government finances the other 50%).The local sponsor is supposed to pay half the non-federal portion, with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection funding the other half.

Note that the results of the study, when all the parts have been completed, will give direction as to how much fill is needed, where to dredge, and so forth. Nothing is actually going to be done; action requires further Congressional approval and funding.

On June 21, 2006, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection informed the City that they would be giving us $500,000 “to initiate a sand search investigation that is a required element of the federal feasibility study.”  This raises a number of questions:

1. Did the City of Flagler Beach request money for a sand search?
   
2. If they did, why is the City taking on financial responsibility for a County-sponsored activity?
   
3. Why is FDEP giving the City money that, logically, should go to the County?
   
4. The FDEP letter states that “by conducting the investigation using local funds, the City should be able to get financial credit from the Army Corps of Engineers.”  That’s nice but the City wasn’t supposed to be paying for the study in the first place. Is there an agreement with the County to credit the City or are we (the taxpayers) going to end up paying for the study of the Flagler Beach portion of the study and the study of the rest of the county while other county residents only have to pay for the non-Flagler Beach portion. 
   
5. What happens if we do not, in fact, get “financial credit”?
   
6. What happens if, at the completion of the Feasibility Study, the Army Corps of Engineers determines that dredging and filling would be best for Flagler’s Beach? Does this mean our citizens must accept this solution if we would prefer another?

Local Innovative Project Proposal

An “innovative or experimental project” is otherwise known as one not previously approved by the Army Corps of Engineers. While the Holmberg Undercurrent Stabilizer System is certainly innovative, it is hardly experimental since it has been successfully used, over the course of more than 30 years, to permanently reverse beach erosion in venues as diverse as Lake Michigan and the Arabian Gulf. Even so, it is considered “experimental” because the Corps has never approved such a project on the Atlantic seaboard.

The Florida DEP has $2,000,000 available “to cost-share with local governments to initiate such projects.”  The DEP will solicit proposals from local governments wanting to pursue experimental projects, evaluate each to determine its merit and economic feasibility, and then select projects to fund.

In his letter announcing this (along with the half-million-dollar non-matching gift, the DEP’s Phil Flood wrote, “The selection of a project(s) will be based largely upon a detailed scope of work, project schedule, and cost estimates. Therefore I suggest that the City begin the procurement process to select a suitable vendor with a product that meets your project performance objectives.”

The City Commission has determined that this means that a coastal engineering firm must be hired to write a Request for Proposals. The RFP will then be posted, via the Internet, and interested vendors will submit their proposals to the City.

It is unclearwhy the City must hire an engineering firm to write an RFP, since presumably the citizens know what we want for our project: a method that will permanently reverse beach erosion and regenerate our beach without the use of dredged sand and without the need for further intervention.

Please note, too, that for this part of the task the coastal engineer must be paid out of City funds; that “gift” of half a million is restricted to the federal Feasibility Study, and may not be used for anything else.

On August 17 at 1pm, at City Hall, one of the applicants for the job, LEDY Design Group of Sarasota, Florida, will be interviewed at City Hall. This firm is very different from the others in that they are familiar with and support the work of Holmberg,, and you will want to hear what its spokesmen have to say.

On August 23 at 10am, the six other firms are scheduled to be interviewed in the Fire Station meeting room.

While the main task of the selected engineer will be to initiate the “sand search,” it is very important that the firm be sympathetic to the cause of Save Flagler’s Beach and the science behind Undercurrent Stabilizer Systems.

Questions for the engineers have already been submitted by the commission members, but some public input will be allowed. You should know, however, that while Flagler Beach citizens were invited to submit questions to commissioners, who then passed their lists of questions to the City Clerk, the list was unilaterally edited by Chairman Ron Vath, and MOST OF THE QUESTIONS REGARDING THE LOCAL DEMONSTRATION PROJECT HAVE BEEN DELETED.

This makes it even more important that you attend. Since the commissioners will not be allowed to ask additional questions, YOU are the only hope that the important questions be asked!

The Save Flagler’s Beach committee urges you to attend these interviews—and the commission meeting at which the coastal engineering firm will ultimately be selected.

For commissioners’ contact information, please visit the Save Flagler’s Beach website—www.saveflaglersbeach.com.

If you can help with the Save Flagler’s Beach campaign to go forward with a demonstration project using Undercurrent Stabilizers (making phone calls, helping with slide presentations, distributing flyers as appropriate, circulating the petition for signatures), please e-mail us at saveflaglersbeach@yahoo.com, or call 439-5927 and leave a message. A committee member will get back to you.

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