Flagler Beach city manager to recommend pier damaged in Tropical Storm Ian remain closed

Flagler Beach City Manager William Whitson said he will recommend to the City Commission that the iconic wooden pier remain closed after an engineer found the structure to be unsafe following Tropical Storm Ian.

The city had already planned to demolish the pier next year and replace it with a concrete pier. If officials agree to keep it closed, the city will be without a pier until the new one is built sometime next year.

Ian, which was a tropical storm when it reached Flagler Beach, battered the pier, destroying a 120-foot section off the end, according to a letter dated Friday from engineering firm Mott MacDonald Florida in Jacksonville to Whitson.

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The engineer also recommended people stay clear of the pier's damaged end.

A video showed a section of the pier floating south along the coast after Ian tore the section off.

Whitson said on Friday that he would recommend to the City Commission that the pier remain closed for safety reasons.

“It’s sad. I'm not happy about it,” Whitson said in a phone interview. “But that’s one of those things that can’t be avoided.”

He said the pier would be on the agenda for the next City Commission meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall.

The city also plans to host a hurricane information forum for residents on Wednesday.

Ian damaged other area piers. The storm tore off more than 200 feet of the Sunglow Pier in Daytona Beach Shores, which has been shortened over the years by storms and hurricanes.

The Flagler Beach pier has also taken a beating over the years.

Hurricane Matthew knocked off a 160-foot section of the pier in 2016. It cost the city $917,917 to repair the pier, which was closed for more than eight months.

Then came Hurricane Irma in 2017, which again caused damage.

And now Ian has apparently finished off the pier.

Pier unsafe for occupancy

The letter from Mott MacDonald Florida, which was signed by engineer Chad Lyner, details many of the safety issues.

Ian destroyed about 120 feet on the eastern end of the pier and the engineer recommended that the city post that the pier is unsafe for occupancy and also keep it "closed to public access and use."

Ian scoured 3 to 7 feet of sand “across the full width and length of the pier, resulting in a significant reduced pile embedment below the sand line,” the letter stated.

The letter noted that “deteriorated timber pilings are now exposed between the ends of the fiberglass reinforcing pile jackets and the sand line.”

Mott MacDonald engineers also recommended that the city restrict public activity and sports in the waters around the battered eastern end of the pier, according to the letter.

The restriction should be in place until a contractor can be hired to remove the unsupported pier section and stabilize the end of the pier, the letter stated.

Whitson said there are loose wires and boards at the battered end of the pier. He said a sonar scan also found additional debris beneath the water.

“We are going to encourage the public to stay away from that area,” Whitson said.

Whitson said meetings and workshops will take place to discuss the new concrete pier.

While the pier is closed, the Funky Pelican restaurant in the A-frame building at the foot of the pier remains open.

Brian Nartowicz, the general manager of the Funky Pelican, which leases the space in the city’s A-frame, said it is the slow season right now so he would have a better idea of how the pier’s closing would impact the restaurant in December.

He said the Funky Pelican would remain open.

He added that the city is now in the process of installing a new pad for the restaurant’s Dumpster. There is yellow tape and some construction equipment around the restaurant.

“We are definitely still open here at the Funky Pelican even though it doesn’t seem like it,” Nartowicz said.

Hurricane information forum

The pier will be among the topics during a hurricane information forum hosted by Flagler Beach officials from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Father O’Flaherty Parish Hall at Santa Maria Del Mar Catholic Church, 915 N. Central Ave., according to a press release from Katie Dockhorn, assistant to the city manager.

From 6 to 7 p.m., City of Flagler Beach departments and Flagler Strong will have informational tables for residents to check and ask questions. The formal program begins at 7 p.m., the release stated.

Among the participants will be Whitson and Flagler County Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler Beach Pier, damaged in Tropical Storm Ian, could remain closed