OUTER BANKS, N.C. — Beach nourishment is in full swing on the Outer Banks with projects in Avon and Nags Head currently ongoing and Buxton expected to start later this month. But on Tuesday, Dare County's manager announced more good news — the around $30 million in FEMA funding the county was hoping to be reimbursed for is now going to happen.
News 3 reported over the last few months that Dare County leaders made it clear that in the future, as costs continue to rise, the county isn't always going to be able to fund beach nourishment projects on its own. This summer's Avon-Buxton project is costing a combined nearly $50 million, and the county also helps out with a portion of Nags Head's nearly $37 million project.
On Tuesday, Dare County Manager Bobby Outten announced that the county will be reimbursed by FEMA nearly $30 million once the current beach nourishment projects are completed.
"The money is now obligated, which means we'll get the money," said Outten.
In News 3's previous coverage on this topic back in April, Outten said FEMA told them they qualified for reimbursement from a storm that hit the area in 2024. Because beaches are designated as public infrastructure, the loss of sand from a storm qualified them for this FEMA money.
"This is from that declared storm, potential tropical cyclone eight, that we lost sand and FEMA said at the time that we were eligible, that we would get it. Beaches are designated as public infrastructure, because they provide a base for a tourism economy," said Outten.
This update is a big boost for the county in being able to have that money in the fund for future beach nourishment projects, even if it is a one-time reimbursement.
"We have a financial model where we model out our funding, certainly having the reimbursement of those funds helps that model in the long term. You spread it out over time, and it helps build resources, so that as these prices increase, then we have resources to do it, because we've been reimbursed the money that we had to spend out of the fund to do this project," said Outten.
County leaders also shared an update on current beach nourishment projects in Avon and when they expect the Buxton beach nourishment project to start. In Avon, so far about 110,000 cubic yards of sand have been pumped, or roughly a third of the project. Once crews are finished in Avon, they will pack up and head down to Buxton.
Buxton will be receiving 2 million cubic yards of sand. That project is expected to start around the week of June 21 and last between 90 to 95 days, meaning it will most likely be the end of September when crews are finished.
County leaders also shared an update on the bids for the jetty repair in Buxton as well. The county received three bids for the project on Monday, the lowest being $5.8 million for the project. But the county says it wants to do its due diligence before the bid is accepted.
"We've got a bid in and we haven't accepted the bid yet. We'd like to do some due diligence to be sure timing, capacity, some of the things that are involved that are important, we can make sure we're okay on those things. I need authority from you to approve the low bidder after we've done due diligence. If we do due diligence and find anything that concerns us, then we will ask you all to have a special meeting or something to come back and talk about that to decide whether we accept the bid or not. If in due diligence, don't find anything, then I'm asking for the authority to accept that bid," said Outten.
Commissioners accepted that motion unanimously to give the county the authority to do that. The county has always hoped to have the nourishment and jetty repair happening around the same time.
Some background on a lot of this process can be found below:
In early April, News 3 reported that the county initially had two options on the table for Buxton: a 1.2 million cubic yard beach nourishment project and a 2 million cubic yard beach nourishment project. The hope was that around $30 million in FEMA funding would come in and allow the county to do the larger project.
Outten shared in our previous coverage in May about how the county was able to make the 2 million cubic yard project happen in Buxton without the FEMA funding.
"We've also bid out the financing on these projects, and our financing rate came in a little bit lower than what we anticipated and so that created some excess money. On top of that, we have a fund balance in the beach nourishment fund that that grew during covid, but won't grow at that rating anymore. Long and short of it is, we have enough money, with or without the FEMA money because of those two things, to do the 2 million cubic yard project," said Outten.
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