Residents of Palm Beach’s North End can expect potentially disruptive beach construction during late February and March.
But town officials say it’s all for a worthy cause – maintaining the health of the town’s shoreline and the storm protection that it provides.
Weeks Marine, a contractor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will dredge up to 251,000 cubic yards of sand from the Lake Worth (Palm Beach) Inlet to maintain the Port of Palm Beach’s navigation channel, town officials told the Shore Protection Board on Thursday.
The sand will be deposited in reaches 1 (inlet to Onondaga Avenue) and 2 (Onondaga to El Mirasol) of Palm Beach’s shore. That work will occur during March on a “24/7” around-the-clock schedule, Town Engineer Patricia Strayer said.
Prior to that, starting about the third week of February, a town contractor, Sea and Shoreline LLC, will begin hauling sand by truck from reaches 1 and 2 down to the southern portion of Reach 2.
This sand “forepassing” will enable more of the dredged sand to be deposited onto a severely eroded portion of Reach 2, where it will be used for dune replacement, officials said.
The town does not have a state regulatory permit that would allow it to directly renourish Reach 2. Such a permit would be difficult to obtain because of the extensive nearshore rock reef in Reach 2, town officials have said. Sand from a renourishment would cover that hardbottom reef, which marine animals rely on for food and habitat.
Sea and Shoreline LLC will use Palmo Way as the trucking access point to the beach.
A traffic maintenance plan will be presented to the Town Council at its February 11 meeting, according to Strayer. The plan calls for full closure of North Ocean Boulevard at Palmo Way, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., for one day while the contractor mobilizes at the site, and again for one day when the contractor demobilizes.
Periodic lane closures can also be expected in the area while the work is progressing.
The construction hours for the sand hauling and forepassing work will be from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Trucks used for the sand haul will remain on the beach, close to the access area at Palmo Way, overnight, Public Works Director Paul Brazil said.
The town is encouraging the contractor to take all steps possible to minimize noise and any other disturbances to residents, Brazil said.
New Flood Maps
In other business, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s updated flood zone maps were adopted as of December 20 and are in effect, according to Craig Hauschild, a certified flood plain manager and civil engineer with the Planning, Zoning and Building Department.
Changes include a new “AO” zone that affects 23 residences in the North End and new “wave action zones” along the shore of the Lake Worth Lagoon, Hauschild said.
“The majority of the island is relatively unchanged,” he said. “There are some elevations that have increased, notably in the Everglades Island and Ibis Isle area.”
The new maps can be found on the Town of Palm Beach’s website on the Planning, Zoning and Building Department page. The previous flood zone maps from 2017 are there for comparison.
As a town, Palm Beach is rated a “6” on a scale of 1 to 10, which means property owners in the town are eligible for a 20 percent discount on their property insurance.
Shore Board Chairwoman Melissa Ceriale said it’s the responsibility of homeowners to check and see if the new maps have affected their property insurance.
In other business at the meeting, Ceriale was re-elected chairwoman of the shore board for the coming year. Ronald Matzner was elected vice chairman.
Ceriale, who is a Palm Beach Civic Association director, welcomed new members Lawrence Kaplan and Peter McKelvy to the shore board.
Resource
Town of Palm Beach Flood Maps and Information
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