Jacksonville commits $7.5 million to rebuild dunes destroyed by Matthew

Duval County’s dunes are getting rebuilt.

Jacksonville’s City Council moved ahead Tuesday night with emergency action to pay $6.5 million to rebuild the coastal dunes that were destroyed in Hurricane Matthew. Another $1 million would be used for vegetation on the dunes, which would be planted with a volunteer force built on Fletcher students. The vegetation- sea oats- improve the stability of the dunes, according to the Council.

Councilman Bill Gulliford sponsored the emergency order, for two key reasons. First, he wanted the City to move quickly because there are Army Corps of Engineers crews currently on the beaches right now working on re-nourishment. Those same crews could also take on the dune work, which would save the cost of remobilizing the needed assets. Secondly, the dunes are designed to protect the Beaches in the event of a storm, so officials worry the area is vulnerable until the dunes are rebuilt.

“With those dunes damaged the way they are right now, another storm event would be catastrophic for the Beaches, period,” says Jacksonville Beach Mayor Charlie Latham.

The Mayors of all three Beaches were on hand for the Tuesday night vote, speaking in support of the measure.

“Your Beaches need your help, and we are all in this together,” says Neptune Beach Mayor Harriet Pruette, who read a letter to the Council in support of the plan.

Atlantic Beach Mayor Mitch Reeves presented an emergency resolution that had been approved by the City Commission Monday night to voice support for the plan as well. Latham came not with a signed show of support to motivate the action, but the memory of what everyone had been through.

“I will remember until the day I die about two hours before it [Hurricane Matthew] hit, it wobbled just a little bit to the right, and it was as though the hand of God himself came down and just nudged the storm a little bit away from us,” he says.

All praised the cooperation the City of Jacksonville and Beaches have had through the storm, and voiced a need to continue that in the future.

“The Beaches folks, they all belong to the Duval family. We’re all family. You’re not my neighbor, you’re my family, and we need to take care of them,” says Jacksonville City Councilman Jim Love.

The City would borrow the $7.5 million for this project and seek to get the costs reimbursed by the state and federal governments.

Jacksonville’s Finance Director Mike Weinstein says, historically, FEMA reimburses 75%, the State 12.5%, and the City is left with 12.5% of the bill. A FEMA liaison told the Council that they may be able to get even more, but they have to be very careful with the project because there are many ways the reimbursements could be disqualified. For example, if rebuilding the dunes has an adverse environmental impact, or if they’re “bettered” as opposed to rebuilt to the same standard they were, then the City could jeopardize getting its money back.

Weinstein says, with this approval, they will wire funding to the Army Corps of Engineers, who will then solicit a proposal from their contractor. If the proposal comes in too high, Weinstein says they would have to either come back to the Council for more funding or reduce the scope of the project, but he says they’re comfortable with where the number stands.

In all, he believes work on rebuilding the dunes could start within 10-12 days.

The case for a reimbursement is helped by the fact that the disaster declaration over Duval County was again expanded today. Originally, only debris removal and hazard mitigation was approved for federal funding. Now, the Mayor’s Office says they’ve also been approved for assistance with public facility permanent repairs and restoration.