SURFSIDE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – During Monday night’s Surfside Beach town council meeting, the council voted on the first reading of the ordinance dealing with FEMA’s funding to rebuild the pier that was destroyed during 2016’s Hurricane Matthew.
FEMA has now approved Surfside Beach a new cash flow of $700,000 that will go toward paying the architects and engineers who work to help rebuild Surfside pier.
Back in March of this year, FEMA awarded the town with a $10 million reimbursable grant to go toward the costs of reconstructing the pier. The town would be required to make payments on each year.
Surfside budgeted to use $4 million of that grant, but the new approval of the $700,000 will help get the rebuild project underway. The town will be able to draw upon those funds to pay the architects ad engineers as they start to reconstruct the pier.
“We were not anticipating having those funds available, so that’s gonna handle some of the immediate costs,” says Surfside Beach’s Town Administrator, James Duckett Jr.
Duckett adds that after voting on the second reading of the ordinance, the town council will be required to wait a period of 60 days until making the final vote.
