[0:14] [music]

[1:03] [music]

[1:24] [music]

[1:44] [music]

[1:50] [music]

[1:55] [music]

[2:05] [music]

[2:15] [music]

[2:54] [music]

[3:04] [music]

[3:15] [music]

[3:19] [music]

[3:25] [music]

[3:37] [music]

[3:47] [music]

[3:53] [music]

[4:03] [music]

[4:09] [music]

[4:14] [music]

[4:52] [music]

[4:58] [music]

[5:04] [music]

[5:09] [music]

[5:13] [music]

[5:19] [music]

[5:24] [music]

[5:31] [music]

[5:39] [music]

[5:45] [music]

[6:12] [music]

[6:21] [music]

[6:28] [music]

[6:42] [music]

[6:48] [music]

[6:55] [music]

[7:24] [music]

[7:31] [music]

[7:38] [music]

[8:04] [music]

[8:45] [music]

[9:26] [music]

[9:34] [music]

[9:57] » Mhm.

[10:13] » [music]

[10:31] [music]

[10:54] [music]

[11:02] [music]

[11:19] [music]

[11:40] [music]

[12:01] [music]

[12:08] [music]

[12:19] [music]

[12:31] [music]

[13:10] [music]

[13:25] [music]

[13:31] [music]

[13:40] [music]

[13:49] [music]

[13:54] [music]

[14:01] [music]

[14:08] [music]

[14:16] [music]

[14:25] [music]

[14:31] [music]

[14:42] [music]

[14:50] [music]

[15:09] [music]

[15:14] [music]

[15:30] [music]

[15:36] [music]

[15:40] [music]

[15:55] [music]

[16:02] [music]

[16:10] [music]

[16:18] [music]

[16:23] [music]

[16:28] [music]

[16:38] [music]

[16:44] [music]

[16:59] [music]

[17:14] [music]

[17:43] [music]

[17:48] [music]

[17:54] [music]

[18:04] [music]

[18:14] [music]

[18:20] [music]

[19:43] [music]

[20:54] [music]

[21:36] [music]

[22:06] » Everybody, we're going to we're going to start here

[22:09] in just a matter of seconds. If you don't mind taking your seat, and we'll

[22:12] get started.

[22:24] All right, everybody. Thank you all so much for being here.

[22:29] Purpose of our meeting today is to talk about our re-nourishment project that's

[22:33] planned for this summer. Uh and really specifically focus on the

[22:37] easements that have been requested of all of the abutting property owners

[22:42] to that project. Uh have with us Mac McQuillen, the city attorney, Stephen

[22:47] Trainum with CSE, uh the designer of the project and the manager of the project.

[22:52] I am Douglas Carr, city administrator. Have uh Shawn Keuster, deputy

[22:57] administrator, uh Joshua Ace, our public information

[23:02] officer, and then uh some help in the back with with public

[23:06] safety and easement execution. So, happy to be here. Um happy to be here this

[23:12] evening with you. I am going to um just give a very quick

[23:17] overview, and then I'm going to hand it over to our technical professionals, and

[23:21] they're going to um run through some details of the project,

[23:26] also details of the easements. We are then going to have a quick um

[23:32] Is there a way to Do we have a clicker? You have clicker.

[23:35] Um we're going to have uh

[23:39] time for you all to ask questions of us about the project, about the easement,

[23:44] uh whatever questions you may have. Um we are capturing and and streaming

[23:49] this video on YouTube. So, if you if you have a question um

[23:56] that you would like to ask for somebody else, please do so, so you you can kind

[24:01] of um get answers for questions for people

[24:04] that aren't here. You can also have this video as a reference going forward. 2

[24:09] weeks from now, um there's a detail that gets pacey. We

[24:13] hope to have this um video available for you to reference going forward.

[24:19] Um with that, I'm going to hand it over to

[24:22] Stephen. Stephen is going to um well,

[24:27] Next bit. Yeah, next. So, at a very high level, this goes

[24:32] through the project. It's a It is a project that involves moving

[24:37] uh 2 and 1/2 million cubic yards of sand.

[24:40] The estimated cost that we're we're estimating soft cost a bit. We do now

[24:46] have bids back, but the project is going to be in the realm of $22 million.

[24:52] Uh it has been said many times uh before that this will be the city's largest

[24:56] ever uh capital investment. So, there's a lot of attention clearly on the

[25:01] project and a lot of excitement about the project uh for good reason. It's a

[25:06] It's a big project. It's a big deal. Um so, we are very excited for it. Uh

[25:12] but there's obviously a part of it that we need the community and the abutting

[25:16] property owners uh we need the support of those property

[25:20] owners. So, we have 140 different uh property owners

[25:26] that are abutting the project, and we uh will need to get easements executed

[25:32] for each of those projects to know that it can go forward.

[25:36] Again, that's our our primary purpose uh to be here tonight.

[25:40] And our um schedule has a deadline for having

[25:45] easements back to us on April 22nd. Um

[25:50] as as we've mentioned, we have people here tonight that would be able to help

[25:53] you execute the easement if you're if you're ready to do that. If you're not,

[25:58] that's that's quite okay, but we do uh need to have everybody's easement in

[26:03] hand uh by April 22nd. Uh that information will then be relayed

[26:09] to uh city council, and city council is

[26:12] going to make a deliberation about a final award of this project um

[26:18] contract at their council meeting on April 28th. So, everything is kind of

[26:23] lining up for that April 28th council meeting.

[26:26] So, that I'm going to uh hand it over to Stephen to go over uh what we can expect

[26:31] from the project itself.

[26:37] Thank you. Um again, my name is Stephen Trainum, president of Coastal Science

[26:40] and Engineering. Our company has been around since 1984, focusing solely on uh

[26:46] coastal erosion problems and solutions. Um we've done over 50 large-scale beach

[26:51] nourishment projects [snorts] up and down the the East Coast, very similar to

[26:54] this. Um I've been with the company about 20 years, uh and been working at

[27:00] Isle of Palms that entire time. I think my first uh

[27:04] field trip to the coast to collect any data was coming down in 2007 and looking

[27:07] at the the sandbags that were all over the uh the east end of the island then.

[27:14] Next slide. Okay, great.

[27:16] Um so, this project uh in some ways is very similar to prior projects completed

[27:21] at Isle of Palms. Uh we did the first nourishment

[28:46] equipment, the staging on the beach, and and how it looks, how the dunes build.

[28:50] Um there's there's photos of that back there, so I encourage you to check that

[28:52] out after the meeting. Um

[28:56] the work will be done with a cutter head dredge. That type of dredge has a

[28:59] continuous pipe that that connects the dredge in the borrow area to the beach.

[29:04] Uh so, that that pipe will come on shore um

[29:08] in the fill center of the fill areas, and then they will work north and south

[29:13] uh to complete the work. Um next slide.

[29:18] Um right now, the project uh includes removing uh any existing sandbags. The

[29:23] state permit for those bags requires that they be removed. Um so, that would

[29:28] happen in concurrence with the project. Uh in in the areas that are currently

[29:32] still vulnerable to erosion, there's there's a handful of properties,

[29:35] including Ocean Club, where water's still getting up near the building. We

[29:38] would coord- coordinate sandbag removal with construction to make sure that the

[29:42] building's protected. We're not going to remove all the sandbags well ahead of

[29:45] nourishment and leave that a structure vulnerable.

[29:48] Um in 2008, we we actually had to build a berm around the sandbags, come back,

[29:53] remove the bags, and then come back and refill the that

[29:56] void after the fact. Um I think it'll be a easier operation

[30:00] this go around. Um any areas lacking healthy dunes, we

[30:04] will uh build new dunes or supplement the dune sand that is there working um

[30:11] working seaward of any existing stable kind of healthy vegetation. Uh we are

[30:17] not looking to bury, you know, healthy dune areas, vegetation, anything like

[30:21] that. We wouldn't be removing um sand fence or vegetation or fencing

[30:25] or any other kind of uh landscaping infrastructure through this project. We

[30:29] essentially work from the existing escarpment line. You know, if there's a

[30:33] cliff on the beach, we like to tie into that um or the landward point of the or

[30:39] the the seaward point of the easement area. Uh so it when we're complete with

[30:44] the project, we have a a natural-looking dune system that maintains public access

[30:48] to the beach uh and then um you'll have a dry sand

[30:52] berm seaward of there. The berm, depending on where you're at

[30:56] in the project uh right now, is anywhere between 200 and 700 ft wide. Um 700 ft

[31:01] is one of the largest nourishment um berms that

[31:05] uh happen anywhere on the the East Coast. Uh you go down to Louisiana where

[31:10] they're rebuilding entire islands, you may find some wider berms down there,

[31:13] but um that's a very wide berm. Uh and there's some places we may even be a

[31:16] little wider than that. Um

[31:21] » [clears throat] >> After the project, we will be looking at

[31:23] vegetating uh the dune and trying to promote uh natural dune growth following

[31:27] the project. Uh we will also strategically use sand fencing.

[31:31] Um we we really going to try to rely on the vegetation to promote the vertical

[31:36] dune growth. Sand fencing we'll use to really try to keep people off of the

[31:40] dune areas and uh on the public access points trying to kind of direct them out

[31:44] onto the the flat beach and and keeping them away from the newly vegetated dune

[31:48] areas. Next slide.

[31:52] A couple of photos of what the the project would look like. Um up on the

[31:56] top left, there's the steel pipe. That's the the pipe that they use to extend the

[32:01] fill down the beach. Um so you'll see periods of time where

[32:04] that pipe is staged on the beach. Um behind the pipe there, you see a couple

[32:09] of uh container boxes. Those are actually mobile offices that they drag

[32:12] down the beach uh over the fill area. And you can see those in the bottom left

[32:16] photo when they're on the newly established firm.

[32:19] Um on the top right, you see a Y valve where they spread pipe uh into multiple

[32:24] areas where they can fill. That allows them to fill one part of the beach while

[32:28] they're extending the pipe on the other part, and then they'll flip and nourish

[32:32] uh one part while they're extending others. So they they keep that way they

[32:35] can keep the dredge operating 24/7 and not stop the dredge to have to move pipe

[32:39] around. Um in some places, you actually may see four stretches of pipe moving

[32:44] down the beach. As they're completing the project, um

[32:48] they generally close off a section of the beach in the active construction

[32:52] zone. That area may be about 500 ft wide, maybe a little longer. But where

[32:56] the bulldozers are actually working and the water and sand are coming out of the

[33:00] pipe, they shut down access to the beach um to allow that equipment to work

[33:04] safely. Um they move that area almost on a daily

[33:08] basis as the project's being built. They may move 100 or 200 ft per day down the

[33:13] beach as they're completing these sections. So what tends to happen is

[33:17] they will they will close off about a 500-ft stretch of beach. They will

[33:20] continue to work and and extend that closure area, and then they will stop

[33:25] and kind of catch the back end back up at one point. So you'll see it kind of

[33:29] stretch out and then caterpillar kind of down the beach um

[33:33] working, you know, again, 100 to 200 ft per day.

[33:37] There will be mechanical shutdowns, there will be weather shutdowns, and um

[33:41] a dredge schedule is very very unpredictable. Um From the time they

[33:46] tell you that they're going to show up and start pumping, I would say probably

[33:49] add 3 weeks to that at the minimum just from the history on every project that

[33:53] we've ever done. Um

[33:55] And then as they they work, we can tell you what direction they're traveling,

[33:59] what sections of the beach have been finished, but it gets very hard to

[34:02] predict when the equipment will be in front of a particular house.

[34:06] Um we try to do the best we can to to inform the the public on that. We will

[34:10] provide weekly updates to the city that they will post on their website. These

[34:13] will include maps showing the active fill area, the areas of the beach to be

[34:17] completed, the areas of the beach that have been completed.

[34:20] Um In areas where they can, where the beach

[34:24] has a current dune or a dry sand area, they will try to maintain access where

[34:29] you can walk along the the dune line to get from one side of the site to the

[34:33] other. Uh and there's a lot of areas where they will be able to do that in

[34:37] the wild dunes area. Um areas around like Beachwood East

[34:40] right now or the Ocean Club, they would have to shut down the entire beach and

[34:43] you would have to find a an alternate route to get from, you know, north to

[34:47] south across the the project area.

[34:51] Um I think next slide. Um just the the type of equipment. This

[34:56] is a cutterhead dredge on the left. Uh essentially, it's a barge with a big

[35:00] vacuum on the end of it um that sit sinks down or the the cutterhead goes

[35:04] down into the offshore bar area uh 8 to 10 ft. Um that's how thick of a

[35:10] section of sand that they're digging. Um they'll pump that through the pipe.

[35:14] That that slurry comes out at about 15 ft per second. It's a lot of water and

[35:19] uh material coming through. There's about um 20,000 horsepower on these

[35:22] dredges. Uh and then they will

[35:26] uh it takes, you know, 10 to 15 minutes for the material to actually go from the

[35:29] dredge to the beach through that length of pipe.

[35:32] Um you see on the right the the single pipe that's kind of on the bottom right

[35:37] side of the image going

[36:26] Okay. If you don't mind uh Joshua, if you

[36:29] could go back one slide. Um If you would just take a look at the the

[36:34] photograph on the right side of the screen here,

[36:38] and part of the part of uh the challenge in kind of talking through with with

[36:43] people is the idea that in that photograph

[36:47] where that equipment is staged, that is technically the that is technically

[36:52] private property. So what's generally the deeds on this island

[36:58] extend private property out to the mean high water mark. So that's an an

[37:04] excellent photograph that shows that that prop that project and those that

[37:08] equipment, those pipes, those are all on private property at that point. And that

[37:15] really is the conundrum that requires that we get these easements.

[37:19] So when you're when you're thinking through the easement and what you're

[37:22] releasing, just have it in your mind's eye that we're really talking about that

[37:26] part of part of your property that is out and what we kind of think of as the

[37:33] public beach. And it is public beach. The public trust doctrine

[37:37] uh requires that that is publicly

[37:40] accessible beach, but our deeds extend those properties or your deeds really

[37:45] extend those properties out to mean high water. Can you point to what you

[37:49] consider the mean high tide? All right. And this

[37:56] And Mac Mac may get more into this while during his part of the presentation, but

[38:01] this is an excellent uh example of for this property where

[38:07] that has now been renourished, the mean high water line is way out here.

[38:13] You can see where it where it goes from kind of

[38:16] dry >> tide?

[38:17] That

[38:43] It's the mean high tide. So the average of all those. So yeah, you're right. You

[38:47] could have a 6.8 king tide or you could have a 5.4 or whatever it is, but it's

[38:51] the average of all those. And it's a really it's a dynamic sort of line in a

[38:55] sense. Yeah, it I think this is a legal gray area and I hesitate even get into

[39:00] to it, but I I think what the state would generally consider to be that area

[39:05] would be um some people you would use like the line of stable vegetation

[39:09] because the tide never really gets up over that. So basically the toe of the

[39:13] dune. >> different. I I understand. Um or a line

[39:17] with I think the general idea is the line where if you walked out there on

[39:21] any normal weather day, tide day, where does the high tide swash line stop from

[39:25] the dry sand beach to, you know, the wet sand beach. And that's an elevation of

[39:29] about plus five in AVD, depending on where you're at on our phones.

[39:34] Yeah, so again, this this to to me was a very good example that shows that the

[39:41] the challenge of working on

[40:36] I think I've mentioned most of all this before. We would expect a single parcel,

[40:42] whether it's a a condo regime or a single house to be impacted by that

[40:46] construction site on the for a period of 3 to 5 days to allow them to move.

[40:52] » for your condo? 24/7. They will work non-stop. They will not work on July

[40:57] 4th, we've we've been told. Um So, that that'll be one day of reprieve,

[41:02] but um So, why are you doing it at night?

[41:05] Lighting at night, yes. Um they have since the project will be

[41:09] done during sea turtle season, they have some very strict lighting requirements

[41:12] and they will have monitors on site at night to make sure they adhere to that.

[41:16] Essentially, most of the lighting the lighting needs to be directed offshore

[41:19] and not up and down the beach. Uh and so, they will try to be doing that. Um

[41:23] they will have the the biggest issue that we tend to run into is the backup

[41:27] alarms which create a a decent amount of noise. And if we turn the volume up on

[41:31] these videos back there, you can hear what that sounds like. You said

[41:34] offshore, why does it have to be offshore? It needs to be directed

[41:37] offshore, meaning the light plants will be up near the dune area pointed towards

[41:41] the ocean. So, that if you're looking up and down

[41:43] the beach, you wouldn't see them as much, but you will see lights. It's

[41:48] unavoidable that you will see some of the the lighting for the site.

[41:52] There's no way you want to ask a question about that?

[41:55] We do have a whole section of the agenda for dedicated to questions. So, if you

[42:00] don't want to we'll get through uh Steven, then Mack, and then and then

[42:05] we'll open it up for for questions. Yes, thank you. I I will not be stopping at

[42:08] this. Um If again, if work does shut down for

[42:13] weather or mechanical delays, what they would generally try to do is reduce

[42:16] their footprint to the minimum amount possible, open up as much of the beach

[42:21] as possible, but sometimes those delays are day or two, sometimes they may be a

[42:25] week or two depending on what's going on.

[42:28] All right. Next slide.

[42:32] Um So, a couple things to look at are that

[42:34] we, you know, would expect to see. We will not be working under decks, patios,

[42:40] porches, or any erosion control structures

[42:43] or houses. Any basically any structure their equipment will stay away from

[42:48] those structures and generally what would happen is they

[42:52] would take their dozers, push sand to the point where sand starts to fall

[42:56] under the like if it's a dune walkover where it starts to kind of fall under

[42:59] the the post of the dune walkover and then they stop cuz they don't want to

[43:03] damage any of those structures. That may leave

[43:06] a void of sand under there that, you know, an owner may want to

[43:09] fill in, but we don't want to risk damage to the structures and and have

[43:13] that on the contractor's liability. Um

[43:17] We will be working up to the point where you have a vegetated dune

[43:22] in areas that we can or there's an existing escarpment or to

[43:26] where over the easement line allows us to work. There are a couple places

[43:31] along the south end especially where the easement line is farther out on the

[43:34] beach. So, there may be a gap between where our work would stop and the

[43:39] existing dune or escarpment line.

[43:43] Um

[43:46] I think I mentioned the rest of that. So, next slide, please.

[43:50] And this is one example of an easement. It's kind of

[43:55] difficult to see at this scale and and from this room, but it shows the hatched

[43:58] area with the state setback line in the red which was the

[44:04] landward limit of our easement line. Um as you go further north, the setback

[44:09] line gets into the dune field and so, then we stopped our easement line just

[44:13] inside the dune field and we put it in the vegetation a little bit in those

[44:17] areas for one main reason and that is if we have a storm event that occurs

[44:22] between now and construction and you lose 10 or 15 or 20 ft of dune,

[44:26] uh we want to have the ability to rebuild that dune for you.

[44:30] So, we we wanted to move that easement line as far landward as we could in

[44:33] those areas um because we want to be able to get you back to where you were.

[44:38] So, if you see a hatched area that covers any vegetation right now, if that

[44:42] vegetation is there when we go to build the project, we're not going to bury,

[44:46] you know, existing dunes or vegetation. We would work out seaward of that point.

[44:50] Um but the easement we want, you know, for your own interest as much

[44:53] flexibility as possible there.

[44:58] I think that's the end of my slides. So, turn it over to Mack.

[45:02] Um Mack from the city attorney night eight.

[45:05] Well, I got to turn my mic on. I get the exciting topic of beach nourishment

[45:09] easements. Um and I see I remember you from the

[45:13] last time we had this back in 2023. I see my law professor Alan Medlin.

[45:17] Um a lot of folks that were here and this is not your first rodeo with the

[45:20] easements. So, some of this will be repeats um

[45:24] from the last time. The first big question is what why do we need

[45:28] beach nourishment easements? Douglas went into this

[45:32] with with that last image. If you go to the next slide,

[45:35] so you can see this is the image in the slide is from

[46:00] uh backyard. That that's why this is needed is because

[46:04] um some of the sand will be placed on private property. This is unlike the

[46:08] last project though where we were literally like scraping sand up into

[46:12] people's yards where the erosion occurred. And so, that this is this is a

[46:15] little different in terms of the easement area. But that's why the

[46:19] easement's needed. All of the work though that will take place is going to

[46:23] either take place seaward of the state jurisdictional line which is the red

[46:27] line as depicted in the image or where the existing erosional scarp is located.

[46:33] And so, and that was in the all's cover letter. We did and I'll I'm getting a

[46:37] little bit ahead of myself. We did get some feedback from residents that they

[46:40] would like that language in the easement too. So, we prepared an addendum that

[46:44] includes that language to clarify exactly where the easement area is. But

[46:49] each of your easements will have an individualized exhibit with a hash mark

[46:53] showing exactly where the proposed work zone

[46:56] um will be located. One of one of the big questions last

[47:00] time was whether we were going to do a permanent or temporary easement. And um

[47:07] we've opted like we did last time to go for a 2-year temporary easement. The

[47:11] city would prefer obviously that we have permanent easements so that we don't

[47:14] have to get it signed and executed every time and get at quickly in the event of

[47:18] a of a storm event or an erosion event. But we we opted to ultimately

[47:23] go 2 years which is exactly what we did um

[47:27] last time. So, I want to get into sort of an

[47:29] explanation now of some of the various easement terms, common questions we've

[47:34] got, etc. on this.

[47:37] The big thing is the language of this easement is very similar to the um

[47:42] language we used last time. Next slide. Yeah, so again, this is language that

[47:47] was based off of the Army Corps's easement, other easements that

[47:50] municipalities have used, and this went through both last time and

[47:55] this time numerous rounds of revisions from, you know,

[48:00] property owner feedback and and their attorney's feedback as well.

[48:04] Um and I think we've we've got a good good

[48:07] product here that that makes sense. As I mentioned,

[48:12] after the easement was circulated, we got additional feedback this time from

[48:17] owners and the city has made several important revisions in an addendum. My

[48:22] understanding is that addendum has been emailed out to all of the affected

[48:26] property owners. We also have copies here um with notaries and so, if you

[48:31] already turned in your easement and signed it and had it notarized and sent

[48:35] it to the city, many people have, you can sign the addendum here and have

[48:38] it fully executed here as well. Um So, first big piece of feedback and

[48:43] change that we made is because the the the easement area or easement

[48:49] location area is not in not near as close as it was to the

[48:52] houses last time in terms of the scraping,

[48:55] we we received some feedback that the removal of boardwalks and pilings and

[49:00] sand fencing and turf and debris located in the easement area needed to be

[49:03] removed by the owner. We we struck that entire paragraph from

[49:07] this easement because that will not affect the scope of work for this

[49:11] particular project. So, we received a lot of concerns

[49:14] about this to the extent people had things in their

[49:18] backyard. Obviously, there's a as as all of you probably know, there's

[49:21] a seawall on the beach too. We received feedback from that owner as well. So,

[49:25] that provision will stay in that. Next slide is in this in what's called

[49:32] the habendum clause at the end of the easement.

[49:35] The it originally read at the beginning to

[49:38] have and to hold all and singular the easement before mentioned under the city

[49:42] and successors and assigns forever. And we received feedback from several folks

[49:47] that look if this is a temporary easement, why are you putting the word

[49:49] forever in there? And so we added to each of these sentences in the addendum

[49:54] clause that it's in accordance with the terms of the easement. So the only thing

[49:58] that doesn't expire after 2 years in this easement is the release language.

[50:02] And the reason for that is the city can and as engineers, we can't guarantee

[50:06] that this is going to stop on that date. And so we can't guarantee that this work

[50:10] is going to prevent erosion in perpetuity and so that release survives

[50:14] the the 2-year period of easement. But other than that, this is a 2-year

[50:18] temporary easement. Next slide, again we discussed this

[50:23] earlier but um this language was contained in the cover

[50:27] letter with all the property owners but it was not in the easement. And so we

[50:32] made sure to include it just for clarity that that easement

[50:35] area where the work will take place seaward of the state jurisdictional line

[50:42] um which is the red line in the exhibit figure easement or the original start,

[50:46] whichever is further seaward.

[50:50] Uh signing requirements, this is important. Last time we got a bunch of

[50:53] easements back that we had to send back to the owners to get fixed because it

[50:58] either wasn't witnessed or wasn't notarized. So um

[51:02] if you haven't executed, we have folks here today to make sure that it's done

[51:06] right. If you have already done it um and it's wrong, we'll we'll be sure to

[51:10] tell you. But if you haven't, make sure that the property owner or owners sign.

[51:15] Um you got to have two separate witnesses. It has to be signed in the

[51:19] presence of a notary and needs to have the notary signature and stamp on it and

[51:23] we will need an original. So a scanned copy emailed is not sufficient. We need

[51:28] the original because it will be recorded in the register of deeds office.

[51:32] And we're the city and or my firm if anyone has questions about it, we're

[51:36] happy to like if you're filling it out and need to know what to do, you can

[51:40] reach out to the city and we'll help you.

[51:43] All right, common questions um about easements. So one one of the questions

[51:47] we got both this time and last time is an easement an encumbrance? Yes, it all

[51:52] easements are encumbrances on property. Uh most properties have easements

[51:56] whether that's a utility easement, an access easement. Um the easement in our

[52:01] view is much like a utility easement. It's it doesn't burden the property but

[52:05] it does benefit the property by providing protection from storms and the

[52:08] resulting erosion. Uh next question, does an easement

[52:12] affect title to property? Yes, it does just just like any other encumbrance. So

[52:17] also like a utility easement, the easement should have no impact on the

[52:20] market value of your property. In fact, if your property is protected from

[52:25] erosion and washing in the ocean, probably going to be worth more.

[52:30] Um can a property owner use the property

[52:33] subject to these? Yes, so the easement specifically has language that um

[52:38] reserves to the grantors, the property owner and their successors and assigns

[52:42] all rights and privileges to use the easement property so long as such uses

[52:46] do not interfere with the purpose of the easement. Property owners are also

[52:49] specifically permitted to construct over water structures subject to state

[52:54] and local regulations. Um next question was does the easement

[53:00] um affect the title to any property that may accrete in the future? This is a We

[53:04] got asked this question a lot last time and this time.

[53:08] This easement does not. By its terms, the easement does not affect ownership

[53:12] rights to any property located seaward of the lots encumbered by the easement.

[53:17] If accretion does occur in the future, um

[53:20] naturally property owner may claim title to that accreted property but that claim

[53:25] may be contested by the state. That nothing in this easement is intended to

[53:29] prevent any party from claiming ownership and the easement expressly

[53:33] states that. So this easement is not going to

[53:36] take or give any property. That's going to ultimately be up to what the what the

[53:40] law says and what the state says. Um and then finally and most importantly

[53:45] the deadline for both the easement and the addendum is April 22nd. If you

[53:50] turned in the original easement, which like I said many folks have, and you

[53:54] want to sign the addendum, which will also be recorded with the original

[53:58] easement, that needs to be provided to the city by the 22nd. Because the point

[54:02] is is if you sign the easement but we don't get the addendum before the 22nd,

[54:07] just the easement will be recorded. So it's important that if you want that

[54:11] these additional terms to apply, you turn in both documents by the 22nd.

[54:16] That's all we got.

[54:19] So

[54:24] Do you want to speak to it? Yes, Steven's going to speak quickly to

[54:28] the jurisdictional line review which is coming up and and Mac touched on it a

[54:32] bit. After that, I would just ask that if you do have a question that you speak

[54:37] into the microphone. That's the only way that the question gets into YouTube. So

[54:42] anybody watching it, if you don't speak into the microphone, the question would

[54:46] be lost. So if you would just stand up, speak into the microphone and we'll

[54:51] we'll have questions and answer it. Uh go

[54:54] ahead, Steven. Um I just want to speak real quickly on the um state's status of

[54:58] their jurisdictional line review every 10 years and I'm not speaking for the

[55:02] state in this, just going to give you my um opinion on what's likely to happen

[55:06] soon. Um but they are scheduled to update the

[55:09] jurisdictional lines for Isle of Palms. Um they were anticipating the spring or

[55:13] summer of 2016. I I think they're running a little behind schedule. Uh

[55:16] they will be certainly reaching out for public hearings and and notices on the

[55:20] draft line review that they do. Um but nothing with this project by placing

[55:24] sand is going to affect where they place these lines. Um they've already

[55:29] collected the data and the surveys that they need or that they're going to be

[55:32] using to determine where they're going to issue these draft lines at. Um

[55:37] if you're unfamiliar with that process along the inlet zones uh which the state

[55:42] defines and you can look at on their website, they set the baseline at the

[55:46] position of the most landward shoreline over the past 40 years. So they will

[55:51] look at all the surveys 40 years. Yeah. So they will look at um the beach

[55:56] condition uh from aerial imagery and surveys they've conducted with GPSs to

[56:01] see where was the shoreline, which would be the high tide line um at any point

[56:05] over the last 40 years and place the baseline there. This is at the inlet

[56:11] zones. And then the setback distance is determined by the erosion rate at local

[56:17] uh transects. So every 100 feet or so, they determine what is the erosion rate

[56:21] based off the shoreline analysis and they will include a multiplier of 40

[56:25] times. So if your beach is losing 2 feet per year over that interval,

[56:30] then 40 times that is 80 feet and that setback line will be placed 80 feet

[56:34] landward of that baseline. Um so I I imagine at the very south end,

[56:39] we're going to see some landward shifting of those lines when the state

[56:42] proposes those. Uh along the center part of the island

[56:46] um away from the inlets, they look at where is the primary dune located at. Um

[56:51] in most of that condition or most of that area, the dune's actually grown

[56:54] over the past 10 years uh but the state's not going to move the lines

[56:57] further seaward. So imagine that they're going to stay pretty consistent. Um as

[57:01] you get to the wild dunes area, um those lines were already pretty far back and

[57:05] the shoreline has not been further landward than it has been previously. So

[57:09] I don't think you're going to see a lot of change in that area either. Um I just

[57:13] wanted to point out and make very clear that whether we did the nourishment or

[57:16] don't do the nourishment or where we place sand and that is not really going

[57:19] to affect what the state does with determining where those lines go.

[57:23] Um I imagine there's going to be some uh a lot of discussion about those lines

[57:27] once the state kind of issues their draft and and has the public hearings.

[57:33] So questions, if you don't mind if you just come up, speak to the microphone. I

[57:38] don't know if that's if just tap it, be sure it's on before you speak it.

[57:42] Battery died. Okay.

[57:44] » [snorts] >> Um so I'm at 900 Ocean Boulevard and

[57:48] when I'm at the top looking down um at the just when it's a higher like king

[57:54] tide or high a little bit higher than normal or big waves

[57:57] about the Windjammer area to the pier the waves and the water's coming up over

[58:03] the berm. There's like a tide pool. There's like a couple of tide pools but

[58:07] there's one way back now. And every time the water gets in there,

[58:11] it's now running down all the way down the beach to like 6th or something.

[58:15] And it's like deep. You guys have been out there, I'm I'm assuming. So I'm

[58:19] wondering, you know, when they do the replenishment, do they plan on filling

[58:23] that in a little bit because that would be key because right now like every time

[58:26] there's a you know, any kind of waves or high king tide or anything, that's just

[58:30] kind of eroding a a line not even in the middle of the beach like

[58:34] closer to like the houses and like a big chunk of the beach is just going to get

[58:38] separated. But if we fill that in, you know, that'd be amazing. Is that's part

[58:42] of the plan? Just curious. That would be part of the plan. So fortunately, the

[58:47] those are there because you're getting a lot of natural accretion from the north

[58:50] that's kind of moved through the pier and you're getting these ridge and

[58:52] runnel systems that are migrating up the beach and there's so much sand that it

[58:56] kind of builds a little island past the dune and and it takes a big tide to

[59:00] overtop that and push it up to the the dune. Um but this project would fill in

[59:05] those areas uh certainly they they may they may not be

[59:09] there by June or July or whenever we get there. Not going to look but

[59:13] Like you know, I'm hoping we get it's I feel like the wind has stopped in the

[59:17] last year or so cuz when the windy days, you know, all that sand blows up and we

[59:20] just haven't had as much of that. Been a lot of like not you know, coming from

[59:25] the ocean in as much. So I just noticed it hasn't been building as much in the

[59:28] last year or so. So that that helps too. I like less

[59:32] light wind cuz that's small waves. Yeah. a big wave.

[59:36] Okay. All right. Thank you guys.

[59:40] First

[59:43] of all, thank you. I'm at 130 Ocean Boulevard, Cindy Solomon. I haven't seen

[59:48] the addendum, but from what you're showing that was a good positive. Thank

[59:52] you. I did have one question though, Matt, and for you and David, which is

[59:56] the hold harmless part. I struggle with there not being some exception for

[1:00:01] negligence or at least gross negligence regarding a contractor. Personal injury

[1:00:06] is a big deal. Um

[1:00:08] We struck That was in the easement The L sign before there's no hold harmless

[1:00:12] language in the season. So Okay, go ahead. It just This has the release

[1:00:16] language, but not the indemnity and hold harmless.

[1:00:18] All right. So it's releasing the city, but it's not I just I understand it's

[1:00:22] not releasing the contractor if there was an issue,

[1:00:26] say a bulldozer runs over a child or in your property your bulldozer just I

[1:00:32] don't know hit something and the bulldozer driver sir. I mean, I just

[1:00:35] want to make sure that on our property as we've defined it here that this

[1:00:41] doesn't create something that excludes gross negligence for sure.

[1:00:47] And I think the city would want wouldn't want that either for themselves or

[1:00:51] itself. I'm looking at the lots of the language that wasn't here that we struck

[1:00:55] and primarily due to Alan Metelmann, our law professor's comment was that grantor

[1:01:00] hereby agree and hold harmless and indemnify the city its officials

[1:01:03] inspectors advisors and contractors from any all loss or damage including

[1:01:07] attorney's fees incurred as a result of any claims

[1:01:10] against the city or its officials agents employees inspectors or advisors for

[1:01:14] personal injury or property damage in connection with the city's work

[1:01:17] contemplated here and except to the extent such loss is caused by any

[1:01:20] negligent reckless act of the city its officials agents employees inspectors or

[1:01:24] advisors. We struck that entire paragraph. We struck part of it, but we

[1:01:28] still have Ours says grantor hereby releases the city and its officials. We

[1:01:31] don't have all the hold harmless language, but it still in effect seems

[1:01:35] to suggest we're releasing them. And again, we can talk offline, but I do

[1:01:40] still have a concern about that paragraph and I'm greatly appreciative

[1:01:43] of everything else for sure and your willingness to work with us on this.

[1:01:47] But I again for the city's sake and my own, I just want to make sure that there

[1:01:51] aren't repercussions in the event of gross negligence particularly and

[1:01:55] negligence as well. I'm not looking for anything regarding

[1:01:59] Mother Nature for sure. But you know, if that driver's you know,

[1:02:03] been awake 24/7 and there's a real issue. I I don't feel

[1:02:08] that we should, you know, release that situation.

[1:02:14] Thank you.

[1:02:19] I agree I agree with Cindy. That was a concern of mine because

[1:02:24] » [clears throat] >> I saw negligence this whole summer

[1:02:29] by the Army Corps and I was very concerned when

[1:02:33] I saw little kids this the rate of speed that some of the truck drivers were

[1:02:38] driving down. So I think it's a concern because as you say, we're the property

[1:02:43] owner all the way out to the high the mean high water mark. So

[1:02:48] that language needs to be repaired in in the lease because if

[1:02:53] if a truck driver is asleep like she says a dozer driver

[1:02:58] you know, isn't seeing all the way around. It certainly releases you as a

[1:03:02] city, but it doesn't release me as a homeowner.

[1:03:05] So there has to be some protection in that for us as a homeowner. And my other

[1:03:11] question is to Steve. I was here in 2018, Steve.

[1:03:15] And I have pictures of no sand in front of my house and no dune bait. But when I

[1:03:20] called the city administrator who was Linda Tucker at the time

[1:03:25] and the mayor the response I got was

[1:03:30] the sand was allocated for our end of the ocean, but it all went to Wild

[1:03:35] Dunes. And in your talking about all the

[1:03:38] measurements of how much sand is going to go

[1:03:42] to that end of the island versus our end of the island

[1:03:47] how do I know you're not going to get all the appropriate sand which

[1:03:51] happened at our time in 2018. The amount of appropriate beach sand that was

[1:03:57] compatible was used up. And it went to Wild Dunes and there was no more for our

[1:04:04] end of the ocean. And also through the FOIA requests, I found out that you

[1:04:10] mentioned again tonight sand fencing and plantations plantings

[1:04:16] that never happened on our end. But plants were

[1:04:21] put in. Desiree pointed it out when Matt Slaiger

[1:04:25] was there because that's a state requirement. And it happened in Wild

[1:04:29] Dunes and I have letters requesting could we get together

[1:04:35] volunteer get small plugs planted. It never happened on our end. So what

[1:04:41] assurance do I have that this uh sand fencing or planting's going to

[1:04:46] happen on the whole beach not just a particular part of the beach.

[1:04:51] So back in 2018 following hurricanes Matthew and Irma in

[1:04:57] 2016 and 17, we had a lot of dune recession in the south end

[1:05:02] and the city we were able to get I can't remember if it was a modified

[1:05:06] permit, but we added the south end as a potential spot for fill kind of at the

[1:05:12] last minute through that permitting process. The city never identified

[1:05:16] funding to actually include that in the project and we saw a fair amount of

[1:05:21] beach recovery

[1:05:24] from 2017 to 2018 and it really wasn't money for it identified anyway. So we

[1:05:30] weren't just able to implement a project. It wasn't that we

[1:05:33] ran out of sand and so we couldn't do it at the end. It's just there wasn't money

[1:05:37] identified at that No, I have letters that tell me exactly what happened

[1:05:41] because it was a grave concern and I also found out that um

[1:05:46] it was only through putting the sand in our end that the permit went through. So

[1:05:51] I don't want to debate that tonight cuz that's a whole another legal issue. I

[1:05:55] just want to get on record assurances from you that the appropriate sand is

[1:06:00] going to be allocated to our end and there's not going to come up with no

[1:06:04] funding or the appropriate beach sand is not

[1:06:09] available. Yeah, well there's there's plenty of sand available. It's been

[1:06:13] included in the bid that the council will consider on the 28th. It's up to

[1:06:18] council to decide if they want to place that sand there or not. Yeah,

[1:06:22] because we had a concern at your meeting the

[1:06:25] last time that you you put the numbers down for our end of

[1:06:30] the the beach sand and that was a grave

[1:06:33] concern to all of us that live on this end why you would put that language in

[1:06:39] there that the amount you reduced it.

[1:06:43] Are you referring to the the bid document that we

[1:06:46] » Yes, yes. The reason why the bid document goes out at a lower value is

[1:06:51] because you're trying to make sure that when bids come back, they fall within

[1:06:56] the budget that the city had allocated. It wasn't that that was the project we

[1:07:00] were hoping to do. We just wanted the flexibility that should bids come in

[1:07:04] higher, we still have a valid project and we can award up to the permitted or

[1:07:10] budget allowable maximum. So how did you calculate that this end would have less

[1:07:16] in the bid? How did you separate the two bids?

[1:07:20] Well, we look at the existing condition of the beach. We look at the amount of

[1:07:24] sand that the core placed and what we were actually able to measure stayed on

[1:07:28] the beach with that core project which was over 300,000 yards.

[1:07:33] Because the sand didn't stay. I mean, it's in the inlet and it's in Sullivan's

[1:07:37] Island. It migrated and it and around to the

[1:07:43] I mean, I walked that shoreline today from the pier to Breach Inlet. There's

[1:07:46] almost 200 feet of dry sand in front of the dune along that entire area. Okay.

[1:07:51] Well, yeah, we haven't had significant king tides yet.

[1:07:55] But we've been able to measure a lot of it recently. So that that was part of

[1:07:58] the the calculation in the bid structure. Again, we are

[1:08:04] recommending that they place the full 100 800,000 yards of sand there

[1:08:09] and potentially more, but that's something we're you know, still

[1:08:13] reviewing. So is the bid lowering to uh make the bid come in financially at a

[1:08:19] certain uh budget number? Is that Is that what

[1:08:23] your point is? I would I would answer that the city had

[1:08:28] planned our budget for the project was $32 million.

[1:08:32] City did not have $32 million, but that was what we thought the project probably

[1:08:39] would come in at. The thing we were guarding against is

[1:08:43] what if the bids came in and it and it happens unfortunately with a lot of our

[1:08:46] projects. What if it came in at $50 million? Mhm. If it came in at $50

[1:08:51] million and we had to dial back the project if we did not have a minimum bid

[1:08:58] amount we would have to start that bid process all over again. We'd have to

[1:09:02] scrap the entire process, start from scratch and go back to it. So it's just

[1:09:06] a safeguard in the event that your planning number is off and it goes the

[1:09:12] wrong way. It's way more expensive than what you planned for.

[1:09:16] You still have the ability but cuz otherwise if you don't have that

[1:09:20] amount, the bidders would just say, you know, I'm not going to do the work

[1:09:23] because it's not it's not worth our effort and you'd have to restart the

[1:09:26] bidding process. >> So, and I don't know that we've really

[1:09:30] talked about it here, but but we have the good news of

[1:09:35] I think what could be the best bids that we've had that I think that Stevens

[1:09:39] firm, who does a lot of this work, has seen in 20 years. So, it's the It It is

[1:09:44] the lowest cost for a project that that we've seen in a very, very long time. I

[1:09:49] think lower than the 2018 cost, which is just unheard of for any other project

[1:09:54] that the city has done. So, we have the luxury, I guess,

[1:09:59] of having uh a lot of room between what we're

[1:10:03] planning for and the actual bids to I hope I I hope it would be an easy

[1:10:09] um decision for city council to go with the absolute maximum permitted um

[1:10:16] My expectation is that would be an amount that they could comfortably do.

[1:10:20] So, that was a bid a bid maximum and minimum, not a It's a permit maximum.

[1:10:27] » maximum. >> minimum. Bid minimum. Okay. That So,

[1:10:30] those are kind of the two the the floor and the ceiling that we're we're having

[1:10:33] to work between. So, it wasn't lowering the amount you

[1:10:37] were putting on for the permit. It was lowering for the financial bid. That's

[1:10:44] correct. And And it was to safeguard, again, in the event that we planned for

[1:10:48] 32, we get bids back that what we want to do is 50, and we just can't make that

[1:10:53] happen, can't pull together the money, we would still have a viable project.

[1:10:59] That's my >> what we wanted, but it would be viable,

[1:11:01] and we could do something because, unfortunately,

[1:11:05] generally when the city goes out to bid, things come back

[1:11:09] more often than not higher than we had planned instead of lower, so. I

[1:11:12] understand that. Back to Steve about the sand fencing and the vegetation. Is that

[1:11:18] in the bids? You You mentioned you're going to do that. Who's going to do it?

[1:11:22] And is the

[1:11:25] funds already there to do that, or is it going to be the whole um ocean front? Or

[1:11:30] how are you planning that? Yeah. So, I believe the city has um at least $75,000

[1:11:35] set aside for sand fencing and vegetation. We would include that

[1:11:40] um Again, focusing heavy on the vegetation

[1:11:42] part of it is our recommendation. Sand fence works really well, but um

[1:11:47] they both accomplish growing dunes, and you know, the issue with sand fences it

[1:11:51] turns into debris to debris during storms. Yeah. Um but But it works. It It

[1:11:57] works for building dune because after we had those, we were one of only

[1:12:02] uh two people that put up sand fencing and vegetation, and it just grew ex- It

[1:12:08] It absolutely works. And also just putting plugs in. I know Pawleys Island

[1:12:14] and other islands got their city together and volunteered to plant the I

[1:12:19] tried to get the city here to do that. Just let us volunteer to plant the

[1:12:24] plugs, you know, which aren't that expensive, and get the whole um

[1:12:28] coastline done with vegetation like that on a volunteer basis to help plant it,

[1:12:34] you know, on It's our It's our property, so we don't need city [snorts]

[1:12:39] permits to plant. That worked really well in other areas. Again, we'll be

[1:12:44] working with the city to put out a a bid or a request for quotes from the um the

[1:12:48] groups that specialize in that. There's a handful of companies that That's what

[1:12:52] they do. Um and that would happen, you know, immediately following the project

[1:12:57] as long as it's a Well, heads up. Last year all their uh

[1:13:02] plantings died because of a a

[1:13:05] storm that they had come in in the south, so

[1:13:09] uh plugs weren't even available because I know I tried to get them. They weren't

[1:13:14] available, so they're not always available if the weather freezes in

[1:13:18] certain areas and that. But my question still was who's going to determine where

[1:13:22] that's going to happen. If it's $75,000, it's not that

[1:13:27] much for all of that. So, how is the city going to determine

[1:13:30] where who's going to get the plantings, or where you going to put the plantings?

[1:13:34] Well, we we would map out the um alternatives as far as if you want to

[1:13:39] cover X number of feet and with the density and width of, you know,

[1:13:44] different scenarios. Generally, they're 18 in or 24 in apart.

[1:13:48] Um You can plant the crest of the dune, the slope of the dune, and even a a

[1:13:52] little bit in front. Uh so, we would present them a couple of different

[1:13:55] options, and then it would be up to them to decide how much they wanted to fund.

[1:13:59] » So, the city controls that, not m- not you. You're just making recommendations,

[1:14:04] but the city council has to approve the budget and where

[1:14:08] where it's going to go. >> It'll be a separate It'll be a separate

[1:14:11] bidding process, separate project, but it is in our plans to do. Cuz I know the

[1:14:15] state requires it. They require the the plantings.

[1:14:19] Um It's in the legal from the state. Um

[1:14:23] The other thing I I was wondering about, do you have a paper where uh

[1:14:28] we as homeowners can read where the the budget is coming and how it's allocated

[1:14:32] and where it's coming from? You kind of state what it is, but like is some

[1:14:36] coming from A tax, some is coming from the city? Like we can actually go in and

[1:14:41] see where the funding's coming from, the 22 million that

[1:14:45] » Yes. you're talking about. Um Yes, it just so happens council held a budget

[1:14:49] workshop maybe yesterday. Was it yesterday? Uh

[1:14:53] so, this this is in their discussions right now for the upcoming budget.

[1:14:58] This is probably too much detail for for the room,

[1:15:01] » Right. >> but these new bids, if the city were to

[1:15:04] do the maximum amount of the project permitted,

[1:15:08] uh and use all of our beach preservation funds,

[1:15:12] deplete those down to a minimum amount of leaving $2 million in that fund,

[1:15:18] uh along with the wild dunes contribution, we do have a grant from

[1:15:21] the state right now for about a million and a half.

[1:15:24] That leaves uh about a three $3 million gap still. That $3 million gap would be

[1:15:32] split between uh state municipal accommodations tax and

[1:15:38] city municipal accommodations tax evenly.

[1:15:42] That's the staff's proposal to council. That That decision would actually be

[1:15:46] made as part of the budget process, which happens to be going on all the

[1:15:50] same time. So, that's the plan is to fund that gap through those existing

[1:15:54] funds. Okay, that's interesting. Thank you very much.

[1:15:56] » Thank you. Um I want to follow up on one question

[1:16:00] that was asked just a second ago on the um

[1:16:03] gross negligence. Uh I don't disagree at all with that. I

[1:16:06] will I just wanted to point out that this project is It looks a lot different

[1:16:10] than the trucking projects or the scraping projects or even what the core

[1:16:13] did. Uh they put up sand or construction

[1:16:17] fencing on either side of the active construction area, and they usually have

[1:16:21] people stationed at each end of that fencing to keep public from coming into

[1:16:25] the active work area. So, it is a much more controlled

[1:16:28] um construction environment. Of course, that does not eliminate all risk or

[1:16:33] anything, but it is uh it's a much different looking project, so uh just

[1:16:37] wanted to to mention that. So, to piggyback on that, too, we like

[1:16:41] this release language was shared with the contractors, and given that they're

[1:16:46] like the last project we did, there were multiple lawsuits by homeowners, so

[1:16:50] they're obviously on guard, and so this was language that

[1:16:54] was specific in in the last season, but it was

[1:16:56] They said do not take this out of this season. I think it will be difficult for

[1:17:00] the city to find folks willing to work given that 15 plus homeowners filed

[1:17:05] lawsuits against the city and others based on the last project. So, No, and

[1:17:10] and I and I completely understand that there's a give and take with all of

[1:17:14] this. It's just And that's where I kept at least trying to say at least gross

[1:17:18] negligence. I don't think anyone should be released from gross negligence.

[1:17:22] Um you know, that is a very high bar as you know, but it is a bar. So, I mean, I

[1:17:27] just think that the city and the individuals should be should be aware of

[1:17:30] that because so much of it is out of our control. I promise you, I'm not looking

[1:17:35] for I'm just looking for that protection in

[1:17:38] that rare case that because this is all beyond our ability. We're not involved

[1:17:42] with who's hired. We don't know their schedule. We don't know

[1:17:45] you know, we don't know if our our neighbor has a small child that showed

[1:17:48] up yesterday that's never been here before that extra eyes need to be on

[1:17:52] during, you know, that's all that I'm trying to to is ask

[1:17:56] you to to look at that from that standpoint. I want this project done

[1:18:00] badly, okay? But I there's just a point where you have to kind of at least

[1:18:04] express that there's a line I think we we really need to be looking at it that

[1:18:07] gross negligence. That's all. Willful want, you know, you know the words.

[1:18:12] » [laughter] >> Yeah, I And thank you. And I recognize

[1:18:14] the difficulties with that. It is kind of It was put in our when we were

[1:18:18] building walls, you all wanted something we couldn't give you, which was an

[1:18:21] engineer that would say with 100% certainty that a wall could be built and

[1:18:25] there would never be damage to our neighbors, and it could never be signed.

[1:18:28] It was in effect a you know, a a you know, it was an ordinance that wasn't

[1:18:33] ever employed because of that. So, language does mean a lot, and I

[1:18:37] recognize you're correct. It's hard to find a contractor who's going to agree

[1:18:41] to that if they've been sued 15 times. On the other hand, we also need to look

[1:18:46] out for the interests of ourselves at least at a compromise, and maybe the

[1:18:50] gross negligence would be the compromise.

[1:18:53] Thank you. And thank you for adding that information in.

[1:19:03] Um when you're right on top of it and

[1:19:05] watching it 24/7, you get a a view that you know, when you only walk the beach

[1:19:12] one day or two days or five times.

[1:19:16] The comment about equipment when it's broken and they stop using it,

[1:19:22] that at least with the Army Corps of Engineers did not happen. There were

[1:19:26] times where they were using equipment that they shouldn't have been using

[1:19:29] because it was broken, but yet and because of the noise

[1:19:35] and maybe their deadlines, they continued to use it and it was so

[1:19:40] obtrusive. I mean, our houses were shaking.

[1:19:43] And it was

[1:19:45] you know, you could see on the fourth day when they finally fixed it that they

[1:19:48] realized they had a problem. But when you're in a situation like that, what

[1:19:52] does the homeowner do? Am I supposed to call you? Yes. Yeah,

[1:19:57] and we we do take those phone calls at some of them we can deal with. We can

[1:20:02] certainly relay it to the contractor. You know, we've

[1:20:06] received these complaints. And and generally I will say they're

[1:20:09] they're agreeable to to making modifications if they can and sometimes

[1:20:14] they just can't. Um but but yes, if you have a concern or

[1:20:18] problem with an active part of the project, call us, let us

[1:20:22] know. We will definitely reach out um to the to the contractor and to the

[1:20:28] team. Make them aware. >> like there's going to be a big

[1:20:30] difference between what the Army Corps was doing and what this new team will be

[1:20:35] doing because there was a lot of danger towards the end, especially when the

[1:20:39] beaches started filling with kids and they were climbing on the pipes even

[1:20:43] where the the dredge was coming out. I mean, and I

[1:20:46] saw people getting dangerously close to that effluent that could kill someone

[1:20:52] and I was shocked because there's only one person to even stop,

[1:20:57] you know, so many.

[1:21:00] And and just in the side, I've grown a lot of grass on the dune. If it doesn't

[1:21:05] get watered and if we have a drought,

[1:21:09] that $75,000 you're going to spend is just going to die.

[1:21:13] I mean, it has to be watered and so the individuals that are

[1:21:19] in their dune or in their space, they have to maintain it or it's not going to

[1:21:24] do any unless we're having a lot of rain.

[1:21:27] But without watering, you can plant everything you want and it's not going

[1:21:31] to live.

[1:21:39] I'd like to address the plants for you. They um city doesn't state what kind of

[1:21:44] plants DES says and all the only acceptable plants that they allow, you

[1:21:49] can go in their website and find it. Um

[1:21:53] they don't need to be watered. So, those grasses

[1:21:56] » I put in large plants Yeah, but see, we do if you do that cuz they'll they'll

[1:22:00] come and walk and let you know if you have the wrong plantings. I know we

[1:22:04] experienced it. So, they they have the certain plants that they allow and the

[1:22:08] sea grasses that they allow only on on the dune cuz that's under their purview

[1:22:13] and they don't need to be watered. So, to assure you, those kind will live.

[1:22:18] Yeah. >> How about being in small plants Yeah.

[1:22:21] Yeah. Well, we

[1:22:23] » fantastic. Yeah. Miss Miss Vanderham, if we could have other

[1:22:27] other questions um if anybody has any.

[1:22:31] Hi there. Uh first of all, thank you for your

[1:22:34] efforts. Everything's appreciated. I'm an

[1:22:37] island resident homeowner on the backside island, but I also am a

[1:22:40] property manager for about 20 oceanfront homeowners. Uh

[1:22:45] my question specifically to number three on the newly released addendum

[1:22:51] um and how that relates to the

[1:22:56] eight or nine properties that were talked about in the November meeting uh

[1:23:00] council meeting with how far those jurisdictional lines are out from the

[1:23:06] properties themselves. And what I'm seeing reading here, so

[1:23:12] all work on the easements will take place seaward of the jurisdictional

[1:23:15] lines. It seems contrary to what was discussed

[1:23:19] at that meeting in that where those lines are almost in the

[1:23:25] water right now. So, you're going to build the dune

[1:23:29] out in the water and we're leaving a gap between the

[1:23:35] water. Who's filling the gap? Let me Um

[1:23:39] Some of it if you look at it's in one of my slides and I have the

[1:23:43] picture, but there was one of it shows like the line the jurisdictional line

[1:23:49] in one instance is further down the beach. Yeah, look and then see as you go

[1:23:53] further down the beach towards the pier, it gets closer and is sort of in

[1:23:57] someone's backyard. >> So, but So, Steve, to to I understand

[1:24:01] the question and you are correct and it's a little bit weird and we've talked

[1:24:06] through uh the issue of potentially and that

[1:24:11] that property actually shows it You get down the 108 and it's 8 ft.

[1:24:16] 8 80? 80. Yes. Yes. So, we have the and and just for the

[1:24:22] benefit of the room, I don't know that we really talked about this, but I think

[1:24:26] the breakpoint is around 6th Avenue where it follows the dune line and and

[1:24:32] it's it's still all seaward of the jurisdictional line, but the dune line

[1:24:36] basically is the most controlling cuz it's farther seaward. South of 6,

[1:24:41] it is the OCRM setback line, which is which is the controlling line.

[1:24:47] For most of that project south of 6, it works out well. Yes. There there's not

[1:24:52] there's not much of a gap. It just so happens

[1:24:55] » It's almost the same thing. Yep, it it basically

[1:24:57] » and the jurisdictional line. >> We do have and and we've talked at

[1:25:01] council about this a number of times. There's there's a handful of properties,

[1:25:05] less than 10, right at the turn Yeah. uh that do have this weird situation that

[1:25:11] we're going to have to deal with where we would be putting a berm potentially

[1:25:17] uh that's that's well out from what's currently eroded beach. It's in

[1:25:23] the water, right? And we and we have talked with

[1:25:26] with a handful of owners individually. They don't want that gap. They they've

[1:25:31] indicated to us, we don't want a gap. We don't want a berm that's farther seaward

[1:25:35] and it would be subject to washing away. They would like for us to fill

[1:25:40] uh that portion that is landward of the OCRM line and take it all the way to the

[1:25:45] escarpment and I think the city is willing to do that. I think that that's

[1:25:49] how we initially uh contemplated the project, but but certain

[1:25:54] um there were there was concern about the process Steven mentioned uh

[1:26:00] in the future there will be uh this jurisdictional line issue and could this

[1:26:05] renourishment have an impact. Um so, that was really created that way at the

[1:26:11] request of the owners. Again, we very much want the project to happen. Yeah.

[1:26:16] » So, we're we're bending every which way we can to be

[1:26:21] able to get 100% signed easements and that's an example of one of those where

[1:26:25] where it it will be a little weird for about 10 properties. And it's getting

[1:26:29] confusing for people which are asking and I'm not an attorney. I don't give

[1:26:34] legal advice. But I'm getting these questions

[1:26:38] and it's it's it's unclear. So, would those people then with the legal

[1:26:44] advice from you to be not to sign the addendum so that you then can work

[1:26:48] landward of the jurisdictional lines and fill that gap? Cuz if they sign the

[1:26:53] addendum, you can't work in that area. >> We we would like to sign we would like

[1:26:58] to fill the gap. And we would like to make contact with

[1:27:02] any owner who would like for us to fill the gap

[1:27:05] and we will come to terms that would have us filling the gap and putting the

[1:27:10] berm uh in a place that's not going to be

[1:27:13] subject to to eroding away, putting it back closer to the current escarpment.

[1:27:19] » So, >> So, we we So, you're going to contact

[1:27:21] these people directly, right? >> Well, I would I would I would ask that

[1:27:24] that you uh

[1:27:29] cuz I do think right right there that it

[1:27:33] there's probably a million dollar gap worth of sand, right? Yeah. So, we would

[1:27:38] we would happily fill that gap. Okay. >> need to make those arrangements and we

[1:27:43] can do that. My other question maybe for Steven, can you clarify exactly where

[1:27:47] the unstabilized inlet zones start in the south end?

[1:27:52] We Yeah, we just looked at that. Is it all at the 6th Avenue?

[1:27:56] 6th Avenue. I guess So, so from 6th down,

[1:28:00] the jurisdictional line change is different calculations than the

[1:28:07] inside of the island. Yes. >> From 6th Avenue down.

[1:28:11] Wherever that boundary is. In that the 40 year is interior is the 40 year.

[1:28:18] The 40 year would be The unstabilized inlet zone jurisdictional lines change

[1:28:23] based on the most recent escarpment. So, they would look at the condition

[1:28:29] likely around 2024 when the beach was most eroded early 2025.

[1:28:34] Um so, because they came out and collected surveys

[1:28:37] » When they were taking all those pictures, that's they're going to move

[1:28:40] the line. >> I I imagine that the base where those

[1:28:42] pictures were taken. Trying to predict the future here, but I wouldn't see them

[1:28:46] based off of the standards that they have in their regulations. This is all

[1:28:49] based off regulations. They would put the baseline right at that escarpment

[1:28:53] line that they will have GPS data for and then they will determine the setback

[1:28:57] line based off an erosion analysis. So, the line's potentially moving massively

[1:29:02] landward. It especially around that corner right there where they're pretty

[1:29:07] far out. My other question, when they actually

[1:29:10] start the project, the pipe comes onto the beach, is it going to come onto the

[1:29:14] beach at 9th and work its way down or come onto the beach in the inlet and

[1:29:18] work his way out. Um it will either come on towards the northern end around 9th

[1:29:23] or somewhere or more towards the center of the southern end fill area. Um they

[1:29:29] look at a calculation on how much land pipe do they need uh because they don't

[1:29:33] want to mobilize 8,000 ft of pipe if they can start in the middle pump north

[1:29:37] with 4,000 ft and then use that same pipe to pump south.

[1:29:40] » But they'll come onto the beach at one place and then the pipe will go the pipe

[1:29:44] will be >> They'll put an elbow on it. project. It

[1:29:46] doesn't shift up and down the beach from from the ocean.

[1:29:50] » They have the ability to we call that a subline where the subline comes onto the

[1:29:54] beach from the bar area. They may move that

[1:29:58] um within kind of the south end if they feel like it's more efficient for them

[1:30:02] to have multiple landings of it. Yeah. Um

[1:30:05] so they they don't have to have as much short pipe you know on the beach. And we

[1:30:10] I can't tell you that exactly. Thank you. I appreciate that for your time and

[1:30:13] answering these. I'm still a little confused on how the owners handle that

[1:30:16] gap. I Call call me or email me. Okay. Sounds good. Thank you.

[1:30:21] » Thank you Steve. We have a question online I think from

[1:30:25] the Doris Young asked how will this project

[1:30:28] affect the drinking water on Isle of Palms?

[1:30:31] Won't be any effect of the drinking water.

[1:30:34] That all comes from CPW under the harbor and won't be will not be impacted.

[1:30:43] I'm Curtis K 204 Ocean. And we have a rental house there.

[1:30:50] And the equipment is

[1:30:53] so noisy. And during the

[1:30:57] removing of the sandbags was real bad. And the whole house would shake.

[1:31:03] Is there any way that the backup sound the beep beep

[1:31:07] couldn't be so loud noisy? I mean it's just

[1:31:12] You hear it everywhere.

[1:31:16] » [laughter] >> I think there

[1:31:18] this is a problem. Is there is there any

[1:31:24] way it can be lowered? We the only thing that we've ever been

[1:31:28] able to see is some contractors have implemented rather than a a beep beep

[1:31:33] backup alarm it's more of a static noise that doesn't carry as far but it's still

[1:31:39] OSHA approved and I'm saying that out of ignorance if that's

[1:31:42] the right approval but uh that it has been approved and I'm not

[1:31:45] sure if the um contractor that's awarded has the ability to put those on but we

[1:31:50] will certainly request it. Uh they will also be doing vibration monitoring. Uh

[1:31:55] they will set up monitors throughout the project area to kind of keep track of um

[1:32:00] vibrations to the properties. Okay. Uh

[1:32:04] the sand fences we built them and they were fabulous.

[1:32:10] Much better than the plants. And so even if the city doesn't do it I

[1:32:17] mean I would be willing to pay for my own sand fences

[1:32:21] as long as I was allowed to put them in. And the third question is why don't we

[1:32:27] use all the sand that's on that island

[1:32:32] just off our coast. I mean it during the summer everybody goes out there with

[1:32:38] their boats. And it's a island for partying. Why can't that sand be used?

[1:32:45] Is that sacred sand or It um there's some environmental

[1:32:50] concerns over that that the environmental agencies consider shoals

[1:32:54] to be a important fish resource. Um It from the engineering standpoint it

[1:32:59] it's something that could be done and there's no um

[1:33:03] logical reason that you uh logical's not a word. Uh from the construction

[1:33:07] standpoint it can be done. It's a feasible project but the issue is you're

[1:33:11] not adding any new sand to your system. You're you're kind of moving it around

[1:33:15] and you may by dredging a um a new inlet channel you you are altering

[1:33:21] the inlet dynamics and that's done in some areas for navigation purposes uh

[1:33:25] but it does open up the the risk of creating issues while you're you know

[1:33:30] having a sand uh surplus. And you would still have to use an ocean

[1:33:35] certified dredge because you're past the core regs line so it would be similar

[1:33:38] type of equipment. You're likely not saving a bunch of money by doing that

[1:33:42] project. It it would be a little cheaper because it's a short pump but for the

[1:33:46] mobilization price that we have with this project and the unit cost for you

[1:33:50] really wouldn't be saving a lot of money by doing that. Um and you're not adding

[1:33:54] any new sand. This this is adding basically money to your bank account if

[1:33:59] if we're using that analogy. Well I appreciate any help you can get

[1:34:02] with the noise. I understand. I mean it was

[1:34:06] we had to pay people. Yeah.

[1:34:11] So this you want to unstabilize in this zone?

[1:34:14] Yeah.

[1:34:16] Steve this is a zone.

[1:34:22] Yeah it is.

[1:34:25] It's the yellow line here and it runs Yeah it does go to six.

[1:34:29] » Yeah the six hundred block. Yeah six. The whole six hundred block or the six

[1:34:35] Stops at six. Okay. And it goes south. So all the properties south of six are

[1:34:41] governed by different That's a different formula. That's

[1:34:45] correct. That's correct.

[1:34:53] Any other questions?

[1:34:59] As I mentioned earlier I'm with the Sea Cabins and I wanted to find out how is

[1:35:03] this going to affect the construction of this renourishment going to affect

[1:35:08] like our pier? Is is there anything going to

[1:35:13] affect it or could there be potential damage to it

[1:35:17] from the pumping of the sand through there?

[1:35:21] Yeah there's really no risk for construction. The equipment will not be

[1:35:26] um working directly under the pier or even right up against it. We would be

[1:35:30] tapering the fill down so um probably even before we got to the actual pier

[1:35:35] limit. Um so all that will be

[1:35:40] protected and and they're used to working around piers even under piers

[1:35:43] through a lot of nourishment projects. Um you've seen a lot of accretion under

[1:35:48] that pier the past year or two um and so you you have a lot of sand moving

[1:35:52] from the north which is pushing the beach out so you're kind of it looks

[1:35:56] like the pier may be getting shorter or at least shallower. Um

[1:35:59] we'll be adding a good bit of sand to that whole system so some of that sand

[1:36:03] may move to the north uh temporarily so you know you're that

[1:36:07] area's been gaining for years um you may you will likely continue to see gain

[1:36:13] sand over time um in that area just from the the natural dynamics. So that

[1:36:18] that's kind of a post project long-term you know potential change that um it's

[1:36:23] no risk it's just uh you know more sand at the pier side.

[1:36:27] Okay and I know you said it earlier but what is the time span on this? How long

[1:36:33] we looking at? Months wise? Total project completion is about four months

[1:36:37] is what we're estimating. And it starts in June.

[1:36:41] They're intending to start in June. Um I would not be surprised if that pushes

[1:36:46] closer to July. Uh they indicate that they're you know

[1:36:50] getting ready. They're finishing a project at Hilton Head that

[1:36:54] uh they've said that they do not need to finish that before they can start at

[1:36:58] least mobilizing some equipment up here. Um

[1:37:03] if council awards the project in April 28th

[1:37:08] um you may would start to see some boats offshore sinking the subline that

[1:37:12] connects the bar area to the beach you know as early as some point in May.

[1:37:17] And I don't know that we've said it but the city specifically asked that they

[1:37:20] start on the north end. Uh that that is the area that's that's

[1:37:25] most endangered currently so that's where we would like for them to to

[1:37:29] start. I think that works for them so I think

[1:37:32] I think we're expecting that they would naturally start from the north end.

[1:37:36] And so that that may mean that there's nothing happening in the south end for

[1:37:41] two months after they actually start pumping sand.

[1:37:44] So might be later in the summer before it starts on the south end.

[1:37:50] The contract gives a project completion date of December 31st so they would

[1:37:54] actually have until then to complete the project. We try to give them as much

[1:37:58] flexibility as possible just to lower their risk and get a a more favorable

[1:38:02] price. We don't think it will take that long um

[1:38:05] but just wanted to point that out.

[1:38:09] Easy. Just to re-emphasize then if y'all could please take into consideration on

[1:38:14] the south end as well the sandbags not removing them

[1:38:18] until y'all are ready to pull the trigger cuz it sounds like we could be

[1:38:21] in hurricane another hurricane season without

[1:38:24] That that is our It is our intention to to not leave

[1:38:28] properties protected for a long duration.

[1:38:31] » And that's what it sounded like but I know you were talking about the north

[1:38:33] end at the beginning of the conversation and just want to emphasize we appreciate

[1:38:37] all y'all can do to keep us safe in the meantime. Yes. Thank you. That is the

[1:38:41] point. This is a general Into the mic please

[1:38:44] Curtis. Oh. It's a general question. What happens if

[1:38:48] everybody doesn't sign? That that will be a decision point for

[1:38:54] city council to make. It's our it's our hope

[1:38:57] uh that we can get 100% participation and it would not be a consideration but

[1:39:04] in the event we can't get everybody to sign that would have to be uh something

[1:39:08] city council would consider.

[1:39:14] I think last time we got the vast majority of these easements and I think

[1:39:18] there were certain folks that didn't sign them that were not more completed

[1:39:21] in the front of the the easements last time and so I believe that was it but

[1:39:24] again, Douglas is exactly right that it's going to be up to City Council as

[1:39:28] to how to deal with that. I don't think it's worth putting in

[1:39:32] writing but my neighbor didn't sign last time and I think he

[1:39:36] got a permanent easement um instead of a two-year.

[1:39:40] Freaked him out and just didn't want to sign anything so I think if you got a

[1:39:42] call from somebody just a little cuz I don't think he's here. A

[1:39:46] little explanation, he might feel comfortable and not have a problem. Just

[1:39:50] You've talked to him now? I talked to him now.

[1:39:53] Yes. I think we've been in contact with your neighbor. Okay. I think we did have

[1:39:56] one executed permanent easement. Um He didn't do it last time so Yeah, I I will

[1:40:01] say that this project's different than those past trucking projects in the

[1:40:04] south end where those you could skip parcels very easily. With this

[1:40:08] nourishment project, you can't do that. So if there is

[1:40:11] um again, it's up to Council to decide that

[1:40:14] a single property or multiple properties that may just create a condition where

[1:40:18] you would stop a project you know, at that point and just not build beyond it.

[1:40:22] Um I'm you know, there there's a lot of different directions that could go um

[1:40:27] but that's not uh an unrealistic scenario.

[1:40:30] Another question online, this is from Bill Skeens. Uh when you put when you

[1:40:35] put in plants and sand fencing, can you add do not walk on the dune signs? I had

[1:40:40] snowboarders during the last snow, he says.

[1:40:44] Um and I think we could certainly consider

[1:40:46] that. I know that I know that individuals did that on their own. I

[1:40:49] think there were OCRM signs that are available to do that. I think Bill was

[1:40:54] also uh the first one in with his easement so

[1:40:58] thank you, Bill.

[1:41:03] Any other questions?

[1:41:06] If we don't have any other questions, thanks thank you to everyone who came.

[1:41:10] Um we are available in the back if you're if you're ready to sign and if if

[1:41:14] you have follow-up questions, uh please reach out to us. Hopefully you

[1:41:19] have our contact but thank you for coming. Thank you. Thank you.

[1:41:23] Thank you.

Beach Renourishment Easement Information Session - April 2, 2026

Transcript