PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC (WBTW) – The town is planning a widespread project to fix its beaches for the first time, which would cost more than $12 million to put more sand on the shore.
During a meeting Friday, the town told residents about several options for beach renourishment, which is a process of putting sand on a beach damaged by erosion. The likely choice discussed at Friday’s meeting would cost $12,456,000.
Pawleys Island’s shore has received damage from several storms, including three hurricanes in the last three years. This video tweeted by Pawleys Island police shows storm surge near Davis Drive during Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
Residents say they notice obvious issues on many parts of the shore.
“At high tide, we have a problem where there’s no beach and I’ve heard a lot of visitors complain,” said Fred Collins, who owns Pawleys Pier Village.
So the town is looking to put that sand back on the beach.
Crews will work on almost three miles of shore in the off-season, from just north of the pier to the southern tip of the island.
“This is the first time we’ll ever do a large-scale project where we’re taking sand from an offshore site and pumping it in,” said town administrator Ryan Fabbri.
A project through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2004 was never funded, so the town is now willing to pay to put about 796,000 cubic yards of sand on the beach.
In the plan discussed the most at Friday’s meeting, Pawleys Island would spend $5.7 million dollars from its beach fund, which is generated by about 20 years of accommodations taxes. The town would also borrow about $1,745,000, using future accommodations taxes to pay off the debt.
The town would also get a grant from the state department of parks, recreation and tourism, which would fund the remaining cost of about $5 million.
Fabbri says the project is necessary for tourism and protection from storms.
“Obviously we don’t want to lose all that sand that we just put out there, but it’s better to lose the sand, and let sand absorb the energy from the storm, than lose houses,” he said.
At the meeting Friday, many residents said renourishment is a risk the island needs to take.
“We’re buying an insurance policy where FEMA will pay 75 percent of the repaired damage,” Collins said.
The town is sending out surveys about beach renourishment to all property owners on Monday. They need to be completed in seven days.
The project could start in November, but it must be finished by the end of March.