Key's beach plan on the right path

Dr. Kevin Bodge, a beach consultant, engineer and senior vice president of Jacksonville-based Olsen & Associates Inc., told the Town Commission May 27 that he finds no fault with the town’s Comprehensive Beach Management Plan. The plan requires a minimum beach width of 130 feet and that sand be added to town beaches every six to eight years.

“I think your beach design makes sense,” Bodge said. “I see nothing I would do much differently at all, and many communities would be envious of your beach.”

The commission’s goal in spending $15,000 for a review of its beach plan was to evaluate the plan and its beach engineer, Coastal Planning & Engineering.

Bodge, a consultant for more than 200 beach communities across the country, said the town should be proud of its beach and the way it maintains its sand.

“You have joined an increasing amount of communities that have worked to restore the beach yourselves,” Bodge said.

Bodge estimated the town loses the following amounts of sand per year:
• 63,000 cubic yards of sand at the north end;
• 15,000 cubic yards of sand in the middle of the Key;
• 15,000 cubic yards of sand near the Islander adjustable groins;
• 45,000 cubic yards of sand per year at the south end.

“Every six to eight years is a good time to renourish because you’re losing about 140,000 cubic yards of sand per year and 1.1 million cubic yards of sand every eight years,” Bodge said. “But you don’t have to renourish unless it’s necessary.”

Bodge also praised the construction of the two Islander groins and believes the structures will hold sand in the area.

“I was very impressed with what I saw with the Islander groins,” Bodge said. “It’s a whole new frontier with those types of structures, and it’s working pretty well right now.”

Bodge also suggested the commission place a single terminal groin on the north end of the island and warned against placing breakwaters offshore there.

“The north end is a prime candidate for structures and will work to hold sand there,” Bodge said.

He said that the town’s beach plan must continue to be implemented.

“You have fixed the island’s location artificially by renourishing your beach and must maintain it or it will go away,” Bodge said.

Commissioner Jack Duncan asked Bodge if he thought the town was on the right track with its beach plan.
“I would come up with everything you guys are already doing here,” Bodge said.

Duncan was pleased with the answer.

“I think we have been doing the right thing for a long time,” Duncan said. “We have a plan in place that appears we are in line with what the experts are telling us.”

Mayor Jim Brown was also pleased with the peer review.

“The desire was never to change what we were doing but to make sure what we are doing still makes sense,” Brown said. “We have found we are still on the right path.”

Longboat Key’s Beach Renourishments
Year    Project    Sand placed
1993    Island-wide    3.3 million cubic yards
1996-97    Mid-Key    891,000 cubic yards
2005-06    Island-wide    1.8 million cubic yards
2011    North-end emergency project    833,000 cubic yards
2012    Port Dolphin sand project    310,000 cubic yards
2013-14    Island-wide    865,000 cubic yards

Recommendations
Dr. Kevin Bodge, senior vice president of Jacksonville-based Olsen & Associates Inc., made the following recommendations to the Longboat Key Town Commission last week:
 
• Make sure the town has an ongoing permit approved by the state to perform beach projects for emergency purposes.
• Question and scrutinize state requirements that mandate environmental beach monitoring after beach projects are completed, which is expensive and unnecessary.
• Recognize there are substantial increased costs associated with white sand.
• Consider coarser, less-white sand, especially in high-erosion areas.
• Acquire critical oceanfront property whenever feasible, which increases the amount of money the state will pay for a cost-share project and decreases critical erosion problems.
• Don’t enter the Federal Shore Protection Project.
• Promote the growth of sand dunes for beach protection and don’t allow machinery to shape and move around sand.
•  Make the sand stay by renourishing and placing structures where they are appropriate.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].