SURFSIDE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – The Surfside Beach Pier will be rebuilt with the help of a consulting firm based out of Illinois. The bid for a FEMA Grant Consultant went to Hagerty Consulting for an estimated cost of $125,000. Up to 75% of the cost of the consultant is reimbursable by FEMA.
Town Administrator, Micki Fellner, said Hagerty was picked because it is the FEMA consulting firm used by Horry County and was highly recommended by Assistant County Administrator, Justin Powell.
“Piers are very expensive, very expensive,” said Surfside Beach Mayor, Bob Childs. “And we’re a small town and so that would be a burden we’d actually have a hard time handling on our own.”
Fellner said in a best-case scenario, the town would have a construction bid go out in June so physical construction could start in October. If that timeline was followed, she hoped the pier would be complete by May 2018.
“It’s just a matter of time,” said Childs. “Believe it or not we’re going as fast as we can. But there’s paperwork, permitting, there’s just a lot of hoops to jump through but we’re going as fast as we possibly can.”
Council will also hold public meetings so residents can share their ideas for the new pier.
“We want to get input from everybody in town because it belongs to the people of the town so we certainly want to get as much input as we can,” added Childs.
There will be one meeting in February, one in March and one in April but dates have not yet been set.
