Four things to know about a Brunswick town's bond referendum
Another beach improvement project has been proposed on Bald Head Island.
But unlike the ones in 2021 and 2023, this one could have property owners digging deeper into their own pockets.
Here’s what you need to know about the proposal.
Bald Head Island has been combating beach erosion for decades.
Currently, the village of Bald Head Island, Caswell Beach, and Oak Island all receive sand through the Wilmington Harbor Sand Management Plan. According to that plan, the Army Corps of Engineers allocates sand to the three municipalities on a rotating basis as it maintains the shipping channel.
The village of Bald Head Island received sand from the last two channel maintenance cycles, with about 1.5 million cubic yards pumped onto its public beaches in 2021 and 1 million cubic yards in 2023.
Bald Head Island performed its own shoreline projects in 2010, 2016, and 2018 to fill the gap and mitigate erosion caused by storms and ship traffic.
Another beach improvement project is needed in 2025.
The village monitors 14 miles of shoreline, including East Beach, South Beach, West Beach, and Row Boat Row and performs assessments of the beaches and shoreline stabilization structures. The beach uses Olsen and Associates, an engineering firm out of Jacksonville, Florida, for its coastal engineering needs. Based on assessments, including 3-D modeling, Olsen and Associates recommended doing a village-funded beach improvement project in the years it does not receive sand from the U.S. Army of Corps of Engineers. The next one is planned for 2025 and will be named the “2025 Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Project.”
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The project is estimated to cost $18 million.
The proposed funding mechanism for this is through general obligation bonds. In an email, Carin Faulkner, spokeswoman for the village of Bald Head Island, explained that while $18 million is the projected cost, there is some “wiggle room” should bids come in higher. Faulkner explained there is an extra $2.2 million from a previous bond referendum that was never borrowed and could be used.
“If the bids come in lower, of course, the village will not need to borrow the full $18 million, and any amount left over could be used for the same purpose at a later time (like the $2.2 million),” she said in the email.
Bald Head Island did request $4.5 million in federal funding to assist with the project but has not yet heard if it will receive those funds.
“The last information we had was that it could be passed by either the January 19 or February 2nd continuing resolution deadlines,” Faulkner said.
Should it receive the federal funding, Bald Head Island would reduce the amount it needs to borrow for the 2025 project.
The referendum will be on the March 5, 2024 primary ballot.
Bond referendums have passed and funded beach improvement projects in 2010, 2016, and 2018. All but the 2018 project have been paid in full. The village will finish paying off the general-obligation bond debt from the 2018 shoreline project in October 2025.
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This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Voters in one Brunswick town consider bond referendum in March primary
