State Rep. Ted Davis Jr., R-New Hanover, has reassured local officials that a bill proposing to eliminate money to dredge shallow inlets will not advance in the N.C. House. Davis said he has spoken to the bill’s author, an inland lawmaker who has agreed not to push the bill any further.
House Bill 663 would eliminate the state’s share of funding to dredge shallow-draft inlets, including New Topsail and Carolina Beach inlets. Its primary sponsor, Republican Rep. Mitchell Setzer, R-Catawba County, filed the bill last week. The news alarmed local officials in New Hanover County, because the state pays half the cost of dredging inlets. Maintenance dredging will eventually include Mason Inlet.
Davis worked hard to get a fund set aside for inlet dragging about two years ago, said Layton Bedsole, shore protection coordinator for New Hanover County. Counties pay half the cost of dredging shallow-draft inlets; the state pays the rest from boat fees collected and a fraction of a percentage on the gas tax.
If the bill were to pass, shoaling would make navigation difficult. Dredging keeps the channels open.
Davis was prepared to oppose the legislation, but he spoke with Setzer, who agreed not to pursue the issue any further this session. His colleague was unaware of the potential impact his proposal would have on coastal North Carolina, Davis said.
Officials in New Hanover County and the beach towns were alarmed when the bill was filed April 13. They feared the loss of state money would kill the dredging program that keeps shallower inlets open to navigation.
“When I saw it, my sirens went off,” county commissioner Skip Watkins said last week at the board’s agenda briefing.
The cost to dredge seven inlets from Manteo on the Outer Banks to Lockwoods Folly Inlet in Brunswick County is estimated at $4.76 million for 2015. In future years, loss of funding also could affect periodic dredging of Mason Inlet.
The county commissioners and beach-town officials were prepared to send a letter opposing the legislation, but it now appears it won’t be necessary.
Davis said Tuesday he is confident HB 663 will die a quiet death in the House Finance Committee, where it was sent after it was filed. April 30 is the crossover deadline, the date which bills must pass at least one legislative chamber to remain under consideration.
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