County to Pay Half of Nags Head Beach Nourishment Costs

The Dare County Board of Commissioners has agreed to bear 50% of the cost of the upcoming Nags Head Beach Nourishment project.

Following a presentation from Nags Head Mayor Bob Edwards and Manager Cliff Ogburn, the Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed to pay for half – up to $13 million – of the nourishment costs.

According to the Dare County, these funds will be used to maintain the town’s 10 mile beach nourishment project that was originally constructed in 2011. The last project had a price tag of $36 million and involved placing 4.6 million cubic yards of sand on the beach.

Manager Cliff Ogburn commented that the first project had been holding up surprisingly well for the first five years, with only a 10% loss until Hurricane Matthew hit in 2016. “Now we’re at about a forty percent loss.”

Ogburn added that the town wants to have the necessary permitting done as soon as possible in order to “be in a position to be able to nourish in 2018 at the earliest and possibly 2019“.

Money needed for the next round of Nags Head’s beach works will come from the shoreline management fund which is funded by occupancy tax collected specifically for beach nourishment projects.

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