Staff photo by Brian Freskos Wrightsville Beach Town Manager Bob Simpson discusses Army Corps of Engineers dredging plans on Thursday, Nov. 12, during the board of aldermen meeting.

This story first appeared on luminanews.com on Thursday, Nov. 12.

Property owners Rhett and Julie Taber are seeking a possible injunction against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (the Corps) borrow plan to dredge sand from Banks Channel to renourish Wrightsville’s beaches by borrowing sand from one area to rebuild another.

In a letter drafted by their attorney, Kurt J. Olson, PLLC, Raleigh, N.C., the Tabers claim that the dredging of Banks Channel for sand has had a demonstrable adverse impact on the soundside beaches fronting their property, causing severe erosion.

The Tabers have owned contiguous lots at 902 and 904 Schloss Street with Banks Channel access since November 1999. The property is adjacent to the U.S. Coast Guard Station Wrightsville Beach. Taber has called into question the Coast Guard’s dredging practices since 1998.

Wrightsville Beach Town Manager Bob Simpson said Rhett Taber has attempted to gain the support of the town’s individual board members, to enlist the support of the Town, against the Corps. "I would encourage you," Simpson cautioned the town’s board of aldermen at its meeting on Thursday, Nov. 12, "not to do so."

In addition to his on-going battle with the Coast Guard Rhett Taber has a record of unpopular confrontations with a neighbor and has attempted to ban surfing/wind surfing on the beach strand.

Requests to New Hanover County district attorney’s office confirm that Taber apparently received a grant of immunity from prosecution in former alderman Trey Jordan’s bribery conviction in March 2007. That conviction was for solicitation to offer a bribe. Court documents show Jordan was convicted of receiving money from Rhett Taber in exchange for a favorable vote on an issue over a drainage pipe erosion problem on Banks Channel on the south end, near his property. Following a pre polygraph test confession by Taber, his attorney Joe Cheshire proposed the grant of immunity in exchange for his testimony against Jordan in a letter dated April 2004 to then district attorney John Carriker.

Court documents state Taber paid Jordan $2,500 in cash, mailing the bribe to Jordan in a FedEx envelope. Following an indictment by the New Hanover County Grand Jury, the district attorney’s office turned the case over to the Attorney General’s office in 2004 for prosecution and conviction. Jordan later confessed during his trial. Taber was not charged.

Simpson said there is a very real possibility if the Tabers’ injunction comes to pass, the town’s beach renourishment plan may be in jeopardy. He said the Corps could pull the project and redirect its efforts elsewhere. As of press time, a second letter, dated Nov. 17, had been received from Olson on behalf of the Tabers urging the town to withhold authorization until a complete and thorough review of the impacts is performed.

"We don’t know what the outcome would be. The outcome would either be—worse case—no renourishment for Wrightsville Beach; or whatever that is reduced by—how many cubic yards of sand it is reduced by—would reduce the renourishment for Wrightsville Beach," Simpson said.

Olson’s letter states that the Corps’ periodic dredging practices in Banks Channel from Masonboro Inlet to just north of Corbett Street adversely caused impact to the beaches in front of their home.

The Corps is scheduled to dredge again this fall and winter, taking an estimated 120,000 cubic yards of sand from the channel.

"The Tabers have submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Corps to determine what studies have been conducted on the impact from the dredging, what alternatives have been considered and what mitigation, if any, has been proposed," Olson states.

The original letter also states that the Tabers and other unnamed property owners along Banks Channel have no complaint with beach renourishment and understand the public interest that necessitates the activity.

Olson is calling for environmental impact studies, public interest review of the project, whether there are feasible alternatives and what if any mitigation has been considered.

Olson "urges the town to withhold authorization for the renourishment until a complete and thorough review of the impacts is performed."

Archived articles on the Trey Jordan arrest, trial and conviction along with a time line of events is available online at http://www.luminanews.com/article.asp?aid=671&iid=51&sud=30 and http://www.luminanews.com/article.asp?aid=676&iid=51&sud=30