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Wrightsville Beach
Thursday, March 28, 2024

My thoughts

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Not everyone witnessing this year’s $9 million federal beach renourishment project that is underway at Wrightsville Beach understands what is at stake or is necessarily happy about it.

A producer of a television pilot being shot in this area who is staying in a high-rise beach condo, oceanfront at Station One, corresponded with Wrightsville’s manager this week about noise and her inability able to sleep at night. She questions the noise violation laws and why the operation goes on through the night.

The TV pilot producer, Chrisann Verges, wrote frustrated emails to Wrightsville Town Manager Tim Owens. The Fox pilot is called “How and Why,” and not only the producer but the director, cast and crew are all staying at Station One. The building features a variety of units with two and three bedroom floor plans. Prices for a week’s stay, depending on the time of year, range from $1,000 to $3,100.

From the street, Station One is located to the far right, south of the Stone Street beach access and was the epicenter on Wednesday of the beach rebuilding work.

The severity of the beach erosion has caused emergency vehicles to cut into the protected dune line by a foot or more on some sections of the beach. Emergency access was in jeopardy, not to mention pedestrian safety, the beach and ocean in some sections are a 6-foot drop down from the end of the beach access.

As the dredge operation pumps sand through a huge pipe into a u-shaped sand corral, bulldozers in varying sizes push it into place. It is fascinating to watch. Another bulldozer pulls a large section of pipe to smooth down the fresh sand just dug from the inlet. Imagine the scene at a ski slope as grooming machines ready snow for the day’s skiing. This is similar, except the grooming equipment is not as sophisticated. Everything else is. It’s a massive operation.

The work, which began Easter weekend, is ongoing around the clock — 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Already the deadline to get off the beach strand before the federally protected and endangered sea turtle nesting season begins will not be met; the environmental window has now been extended through May 31.

The section where the sand is being pumped out and groomed is cordoned off with red webbing on metal stakes. Beach goers can walk along the dune line in the emergency vehicle lane to get to a section that has been rebuilt or will be done, north or south of where the pumping is occurring. The pumping is exponentially increasing the width of the beach strand.

But it seems clear, we, that is a collective we, can get proactive and do a better job of educating the public about the value of beach renourishment.

Tim Owens says that Ms. Verges now gets it.  But she was pretty upset. She copied her emailed complaint to her Fox studio executive as well as the film commissioner Johnnie Griffin.  In it she says, “The noise level from the four bulldozers that are operating all night is so loud that we cannot sleep. This has had a deep impact on our ability to complete our work.” She closed with an ominous line, “This has made a very bad impression on a project that is considering shooting a series in the area.”

Tim Owens’ reply reported here in its entirety was to the point. “Hello. The project is a federally authorized coastal storm damage reduction project that occurs every 4 years if we are fortunate to get Federal and State funding.  The project protects property and allows for healthy tourism.  The project will likely wrap up by Memorial Day.  I anticipate that it will be mostly gone from the area in front of Station One within a week.  I am sorry for the inconvenience but the project needs to continue.  If you would like to discuss this further, please give me a call.”

Ms. Verges says Station One told her they knew nothing about the project. Hopefully, personnel there did not say that.

Anyone who lives or works here would have to be in a time bubble not to know about the 2014 beach renourishment project. We can sympathize with Ms. Verges, deeply. We have all certainly had jackhammering or trucks unloading or garbage dumping wake us as we slept in a rental accommodation somewhere, regardless of the price or locale of the unit.

Sleep deprivation is a serious thing. Nonetheless, each renourishment is critical, and every four years that comes with some major inconveniences like noise.

One only need walk out to the beach stand to see the benefits. Estimates are 150 feet of new beach sand has been laid down for hundreds of thousands to come lay their bodies for the next four years, not to mention the incalculable value in the protection of the real estate and utilities.

The work is moving at about one beach access per day. By the weekend it will be past Station One. In the meantime, someone needs to send over a few packs of high-quality earplugs, with a sincere apology for the inconvenience.

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