Island Vibes July 2024

8 IslandVibesIOP.com NEWS www.RadRydz.com | 843-972-8525 | Chad@RadRydz.com | 857 Coleman Blvd., Unit E Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 (behind REV Financial) Now Available Exclusively at RadRydz Enjoy cruising on the street or beach in your new RUST PROOF, all aluminum and warrantied Atlas Cart LSV. @RadRydz DO make up that gap.” A permit application for the new sand harvesting project was submitted to the Ocean & Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) in April. If approved, the permit would be valid for five years. Fragoso said that while it is uncertain when the city will hear back from OCRM, “our goal is to secure a permit this fall that would allow a winter permit,” she stated. And while it is too early to know how much sand the new shoal will yield, plans for harvesting it for beach nourishment include the following: • Up to two renourishment efforts totaling 400,000 cubic yards of sand. • Work restricted to winter months. • Use of land-based equipment, likely requiring two-three months. • All excavations are limited to wet beach sand. No work in dunes or dry beach sand. • Majority of beaches will be open to the public during harvesting. • Harvest areas will contain avenue buffers to limit work too close to structures. “Given enough time, nature could severely and permanently erode much of the island’s central and eastern areas – which is what we’re hoping this new shoal will help to prevent,” Traynum added. “But if we end up having a lot more erosion and the shoal doesn’t really do a lot for us, then we’ll have to look at alternative measures.” From Page 3 the long term, that’s why periodic nourishment is needed. But if the shoal provides sufficient interim nourishment, we might be able to push a large-scale dredging project further into the future.” City leaders currently anticipate that beach nourishment projects need to occur every eight to 10 years. “Right now, we’re looking at a cost of maybe $18-20 million for two largescale projects,” Fragoso said. “Our goal is to coordinate both so that we only pay for the mobilization cost of one. But with a beach preservation fee that generates about $1.5 million every year, there is potentially a gap that the city and city council will need to identify how to meet to

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