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[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.