Revetment Project

Board of Commissioners February 19, 2019 Meeting Presentation

Board of Commissioners March 19, 2019 Meeting Presentation

7/17/19 There are already rocks on my property. Why additional rocks to be added?

The intent of the maintenance project is to raise the level of the entire revetment structure to approximately 8.5ft to adequately protect the upland area.  By granting permission to permit the maintenance activity on your property (checking yes) you will not incur any cost.  Nor does it guarantee that any work will be done.  We have received $2.5M from the state for this work, but that will not be enough to complete the entire project.  During this first construction phase (November 2019 to April 2019) construction will focus on the areas of the revetment that front public property.  Funding for future phases of the project is uncertain, but having a permit in place will speed up the process should we have additional resources available to fund the project.  The permit will be in place for 5 years.

7/17/19 If I approve my property to be included in the project, is there any cost to me?

Once the permit to conduct the work on the revetment is obtained, we are planning to provide an opportunity for private land owners to “piggy back” on the permit. In this scenario, a private land owner would provide the financial resources to complete the maintenance project on their property using the County’s contractor who is hired to do the first phase of the project.  There is no requirement that you opt in to this opportunity, only that the opportunity is available to you should you decide to take advantage of it.  Once we bid the project out and have a contractor for the first phase of the work, we will be able to provide additional instructions as to how property owners can piggy back on our contractor.  In the meantime, we will attempt to seek state money to complete the project in a later phase, however, there is no guarantee that will be granted.

5/15/19 If Glynn County has a 5-year permit in place for the entire area, will homeowners be able to hire their own   contractors to do the work?

The  applicant  for  the  revetment  rehabilitation regulatory  permits  is  Glynn  County. This means that only the applicant  may  authorize construction under the permit.  Each phase of construction will be authorized and under the control of Glynn County which means the County must hire the contractor and manage project construction.    No private  homeowner  would  be  authorized  to  hire  a  contractor  and rehabilitate  the  revetment  privately  under  the  County  permits.  The US Army Corps of Engineers USACE  is  of  the understanding that the project will be completed in phases, by the applicant, as shown in the permit plans.

According to the  (USACE), the only property owners required to provide  permission  to the  County  to  obtain  the  requested  permit  for  the  revetment rehabilitation project are the property owners with revetment directly on their property as seen on the Glynn County GIS parcel layer.  It appears that property owners whose property line  does  not  encompass  the  revetment  structure  will  not  be  required  to  give  permission because the revetment is on County/public property.

5/15/19 What height will the revetment rocks be at the highest? Is there enough money in the grant to cover the entire permitted area?

The purpose of the project is to improve coastal storm protection and resilience. The intent is to conduct maintenance on the existing structure with similar materials and construction methods to rehabilitate the revetment back to a condition that provides protection to the upland and upland infrastructure from wave attack during storms and high tide events. To accomplish this, the proposed design crest elevation for the revetment rehabilitation will be raised to +8.5’ NAVD88, or about one foot above the original 1960s design elevation (+7.5’ NAVD88).  The rehabilitated structure footprint would remain  within  the  footprint  of  the existing  structure,  or  the  work  would  not  be  considered  maintenance.    Raising  the  crest elevation is necessary to increase the resiliency of the structure, account for sea level rise since original construction, and provide additional coastal storm protection.

The  County  has  identified  that  the  initial  phase  of  construction  (2019‐2020  construction window  with  the  OneGeogia  Grant  funds)  may  necessarily  be  limited  to  the  revetment maintenance  fronting  public  parcels  only.    Initial  cost  estimates  were  based  on  recent comparable  type  construction  costs for  Jekyll  Island.   However,  ATM  has  identified  to  the County that revetment rehabilitation construction costs are volatile, due to availability and location of materials suppliers, contractor availability, project location and access (particularly so for St. Simons Island due to limited access and the need to work around tides), and fuel costs, among other factors.  In addition, any regulatory restrictions or conditions can affect project costs.  For these reasons, the final project length that can be completed as the first phase under the available funds to the County will not be fully known until the project is bid.

5/15/19 How will homeowners be notified?

The County plans to send out two different letters. One to notice all property owners fronting the  revetment  of  the  upcoming  revetment  rehabilitation  project. Second, Per  USACE requirements, the County is seeking permission to permit placement of rocks along revetment on  private  property.  Any  property  owner  who  does  not  want  to  participate  in  the  project should notify the County after receiving the notice.

5/15/19 What properties have priority placement?

The  County  has  determined  that  the  first  phase  of  revetment rehabilitation will occur to the +8.5 ft NAVD elevation at parcels fronting public properties during the 2019-2020 construction window. Future phases, pending available future funds, will  involve  rehabilitating  the  revetment  in  front  of  private  residences  in  order  of  most vulnerable as determined by the County.  Vulnerability will be evaluated by a variety of criteria such as elevation of existing revetment crest, residence proximity to revetment, beach berm elevation in front of revetment, size of stone in revetment section, and by site evaluation.

5/15/19 How will older/historic properties be addressed in the scope of work?

The USACE has asked Glynn County to locate any structure older than 50 years within 100 meters of the Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT) line (+5.0’ NAVD88). These properties will be reviewed by the USACE for a Section 106 evaluation, which is part of the review and processing of the USACE permit. The goal of a Section 106 evaluation is to determine if the revetment rehabilitation will alter the integrity of the historic structure in any way. Appropriate offsets and boundaries will be set, if necessary, after evaluation of each property.  The 100 meter 106 buffer does not necessarily imply a “no work zone.” Section 106 is just one of the many aspects of potential impacts that the regulatory agencies consider during their permit processing.