Tiny Town, Big Decision: What Are We Willing to Pay to Fight the Rising Sea?
On the Outer Banks, homeowners in Avon are confronting a tax increase of almost 50 percent to protect their homes, the only road into town, and perhaps the community’s very existence.
Avon, N.C., faces a crisis: The main road into town risks being destroyed by the sea.Credit.
March 14, 2021
AVON, N.C. Bobby Outten, a county manager in the Outer Banks, delivered two pieces of bad news at a recent public meeting. Avon, a town with a few hundred full-time residents, desperately needed at least $11 million to stop its main road from washing away. And to help pay for it, Dare County wanted to increase Avon’s property taxes, in some cases by almost 50 percent.
The Collaboratory for Coastal Adaptation over Space and Time, or C-CoAST, made up of coastal practitioners, stakeholders and researchers, hosted two virtual listening sessions in February with residents and stakeholders to better understand long-term priorities, and look at how short-term decision making can support or undermine priorities.
What the network learns during these sessions will help inform collaborative efforts to assist North Carolina coastal communities in meeting future challenges.
Register online or visit https://c-coast.org/activities/listening-sessions.Organizers encourage encourage attendance for the full session that will be held via Zoom, last 90 minutes, and include breakout groups. Participants will also be asked to complete a short survey that takes about 15 minutes before the workshop to kick off the conversation.
USACE: Deep Draft Environmental Assessment released March 3, 2021, by Eldin Ganic
The Army Corps of Engineers’ Wilmington District has published its final environmental review required for the elimination of the environmental window for dredging the harbors at the state’s two seaports.
The District last week released the final Deep Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) describing the actions to eliminate the historic hopper dredging window (1 December – 15 April) and to add the bed leveling technique for maintenance of the outer portions of the Wilmington and Morehead City Harbors.
“The draft Environmental Assessment was circulated to Federal and State agencies and the public on August 19, 2020. The FONSI discusses and responds to comments received during the 45-day review of that draft,” said USACE.
Technical professionals attend a living shoreline workshop field trip to a demonstration site in Wilmington. Photo: N.C. Coastal Reserve
A new research network funded by the National Science Foundation wants to hear from coastal residents and stakeholders to better understand their long-term priorities and to explore the ways that short-term decision making can support or undermine these priorities.
The Collaboratory for Coastal Adaptation over Space and Time, or C-CoAST, has scheduled virtual listening sessions to hear about the priorities and concerns that are part of decision-making in coastal communities. The input is to be used to inform collaborative efforts to assist North Carolina’s coastal communities in meeting future challenges.