Summary of Public Meeting on Sargent Beach Breakwater 11/6/2020

Overview - everything is on track. We need letters of support from the community to the Army Corps now - find out how click here.  Know that Matagorda County is driving this because we are not waiting for the Federal project that will help the entire Texas coast but will take many many years. We are leveraging two (actually three) projects that could really save our beach.  

Phase I is the installation of the 1900' groin at the cut and 5 breakwaters going from the cut to the pier.  This will trap the sand.  They will do a beach nourishment there.  Then, once that is set, the next project is using GLO funding to complete a beach nourishment from 1 mile east of where the homes end all the way down to pier. That funding already exists as well. Opening the cut at the San Bernard will help as well increasing flow of sand to Sargent Beach (the third project)

Then they will monitor erosion to see if this has stabilized the beach. If not, they can add more breakwaters but in theory this should stabilize the beach for a while.  

Timing - permits and final study happens now through October 2021 - quick bids and installing by January 2022 / beach nourishment right after that.  County Commissioners meet on Monday to authorize additional funding to ensure the project can be completed.  

So, in theory, we could have a pretty tremendous beach for the summer of 2022. 

While that timeline is slightly frustrating - that is lightening fast by bureaucratic standards and only because Commissioner Pollard and Judge McDonald have created a great team with the county, Texas Government Land Office and the Army Corps to get this done and all are working to help us. 

So get your letters in! 

And now for the extreme details - of Public Meeting – 11/6/2020  Firehouse

Rhonda Gregg Hirsch – project director Atkins Blobal

Judge Nate McDonald and Commissioner Kent Pollard

Colonel Timothy R. Vail – Army Corps of Engineers

 

Agenda

Welcome / Opening Remarks

Sargent Reventment – History, current conditions and function

USACE permit and public notice – permit support

Next Phase – final engineering

 

Sargent Segmented Breakwater and Beach Nourishment Project – Public Meeting – about 100 people showed up! Way to go Sargent.

 Opening Remarks – Judge McDonald

From Hurricane Ike to today we have understood the need to help the beach in Sargent and we have been committed to continue to work on.  There is a lot involved – a lot of agencies that we have to work through. We have an excellent engineers making this happen – and partners with the Army Corps and GLO including local government.

 

Our next step is the final engineering – voting on Monday to put money to the final engineering and bid prep to get it shovel ready. 

Kent Pollard

We got hit with 4 different storms – by the time we got finished cleaning up with on, we got hit again. We are in the final stages of cleaning up those. After Beta hit, got the Corps of Engineers to see the erosion and the problems with the reventment wall. They quickly came down and toured the entire wall. Drove the whole thing and looked at everything.  Had the permit in for the project since June  - wanted to show them how important that permit is.  Corps was responsive and being a good partner. 

Col Timothy Vail

Commander and District Engineer of Galveston District and Sargent homeowner – (yay) – been coming down to Sargent since 1988 to fish.  The Corps cares about coastal erosion AND the Intracoastal. They have a task to maintain the ICW.  The history of the reventment – 1980s the saw that Sargent has the highest erosion in the entire Texas Gulf Coast. Studies in 1992, predicted the barrier island would be gone by 2020.  The reason we still have the island is the reventment wall – it is designed so it doesn’t need a beach and is designed to hold the ocean out – but not during storms.

 

But let’s talk about the future – he can’t really advocate for anything – but he really appreciates the project and what it will do. Phase I and Phase II.  Plovers and turtles can’t be affected but he is sure that will be no problem. They also have to make sure the material goes where it is supposed to go.  They are going to their best to keep the aggressive timeline that the county has set for the project.  We have a good framework for getting it all done and that is why they are here.

 

Question – why has it taken so long – The Corps has authority to protect the ICW and it is protected.  They work with others like the local government – and they have to work with the state and then the corps to get things done.  But basically the funding hasn’t been there at the Federal level to address it. That has to be local.

 

Question – what can we do to make this happen – we have enough information to do Phase I and Phase II – community needs to support it to make it happen

 

The Corps main partner is the Government Land Office – they spent all week working on erosion from the Gulf – Brazoria, Cameron – both working on restoring – Matagorda is next and what can be done at the local level.

 

Coastal Erosion Planning and Response – GLO – coastal erosion – Matagorda has been working on this to do some sort of beach restoration and they have funding to put sand out there – but have to have something to keep the sand before they can spend that money

 

Is there a website to follow – in Army Corps – they are creating website to so that people know where projects. A public interface – but won’t be available until later next year. (YES - THIS IS THE WAY TO FOLLOW THE PROJECT)

 

The Corps can only spend money on what Congress has told them to do – in the Water and Energy Act.  In General, most of those activities start off with a study, then Congress tells them to build something then they turn it over to locals.  Has to start off with a sponsor – start from locals up. Partner with the county and the state GLO.

 

Rhonda from Atkins

This project is a state project with Matagorda County. We left the Federal Study on the bigger project because it was going to take too long. We are making this a state and local project to fast track it. Hope to have it installed in the Gulf by end of next year.

 

Best solution to keep sand and stop erosion is the: 1 angled groin, and five segmented breakwaters.  Beach nourishment of 8,000 LF north and 3,250 LF to the south.  

 

Showed plans – breakwaters are 185 long, 58 ft wide 660 feet between.

 

The groin will be 1900 Linear feet long into the ocean at the cut – 76’ wide

 

YOUR INPUT IS VITAL – that want to hear positive input – must be postmark on or before November 20 must mention the project SWG-2018-00678.  Your letter must be signed.  Swg_public_notice@usace.army.mil

 

GOING FORWARD –

Final Engineering Phase – funding to be approved by Commissioners on Monday. Timeline is 7 months – December 2020 – June 2021

·       Survey – redo it based on what has changed

·       Geotechnical investigation

·       Numerical modeling

·       Final Engineering design and spec

·       Shovel Ready

Construction Phase

·       Permit October 2021

·       Funding already place – state committed funding

·       Breakwater and Groin Construction Oct 2021

·       Beach nourishment March 2022

Once this project is installed – then they can use the funds from Harvey that the GLO has for the FULL beach nourishment project. We will then get beach nourishment from 1 mile east of where houses end on the island all the way to the project – the funding from Harvey is already there they have to renew the permit.

This is a local solution – THIS IS MUCH BETTER THAN WAITING FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

The first two studies – was 50 breakwaters but this project is an optimization – this will stop the erosion at the cut.  We will know in six months how this is performing.  They will then see what needs to be done and if we need add some more breakwaters. 

The spine will trap the sand and the county will be able to recycle that.

Will the San Bernard dredging help  - yes by opening the flow there will be more sand coming down the coast to us so yes that will help with our beach as well.

Is there a project similar to this - yes - Holley Beach, LA – look at google earth to see a similar project to ours.

How does a breakwater work?  The breakwater literally breaks the waves taking the energy out of the wave so that behind it the sand can settle behind the breakwater.  There has been a very robust level of review of this project.  It will have gone through multiple levels of modelling.

For those on the island – what options do we have to take care of our property – you can probably take care of it.  Just have to ask. This years storms were more intense – much more onshore flow of water into the bay.  This was an exceptional condition. The Army Corps can only do something if the reventment wall is failing that would impact the ICW then they would act.