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Surfside project receives permit
Published September 28, 2005
SURFSIDE BEACH — Surfside Beach’s dune and beach renourishment projects are one step closer to construction after the village received a permit Tuesday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The permit allows the village to use coarser sand on its beaches to prevent rapid erosion.
The Texas General Land Office also issued emergency rules for the Brazoria County coast in response to Hurricane Rita’s damage Tuesday, allowing beachside residents to repair homes damaged by Rita without applying for permits from the land office.
However, the village’s timeline for its dune and beach renourishment projects remains the same. Receiving the Corps of Engineers permit early sets the village a little ahead of schedule, City Secretary Kelly Hamby said.
“We just received the permit today and you can’t do a renourishment project in 30 days anyway, but we’re doing all we can,” Mayor Larry Davison said Tuesday.
Residents still need to go to City Hall to make sure their repairs fall under the emergency rules, Hamby said.
Rita destroyed the majority of the village’s bulkheads, leaving houses resting on unstable stilts only a few feet away from the water. Although the Beach Drive houses have little to no protection from storm waves, the dune and beach renourishment projects cannot move faster than scheduled, Davison said. The rules do not allow the village to begin new construction before turtle season ends Oct. 15, he said.
“We’re never going to make everybody happy,” Davison said.
The village will begin issuing bids for its projects as soon as the hurricane season ends in November.
The beach renourishment project will coincide with the dune project and construction is expected to begin in December, according to the village’s project timeline. By the end of next year, the village plans to have the bulkheads replaced with geotextile tubes covered in sand. In front of the dunes, 200 feet of sand will decrease erosion at the beach.
The village’s public works department continued removing debris and sand Tuesday from Beach Drive, Public Works Director Pete Gutierrez said. All water leaks were fixed by Tuesday morning.
Surfside Beach residents still are advised to boil water for drinking, cooking or ice before consumption, according to a Surfside Beach notice. The water is safe for washing and bathing.
The public works department has been adding chlorine to the water to ensure it meets the state’s drinking water standards, Gutierrez said. Water samples were taken for testing Tuesday afternoon.
The public works department should receive water test results today or Thursday morning, Gutierrez said.
Five hundred gallons of drinking water were stored at City Hall before Rita hit. The well was shut off to avoid contamination. Residents are welcome to take water from a tap at City Hall, Gutierrez said.
Lucretia Fernandez covers Surfside Beach for The Facts. Contact her at (979) 237-0150.
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