THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 15, 1995 TAG: 9511150214
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
As Oceanfront property owners braced for major erosion from a northeaster, President Clinton signed a bill that funds two projects aimed at protecting beaches along the resort strip, North End and Sandbridge.
The Energy and Water Appropriations bill, signed Monday, provides $1.1 million to start construction of the seawall, Boardwalk and wider beaches from Rudee Inlet to Fort Story and $475,000 for engineering and design of a sand replenishment project at Sandbridge.
That means that the hurricane protection project at the resort area, which the city has sought for 25 years, can begin construction in September.
The money approved for Sandbridge is only to complete the design phase. The bigger hurdle will be getting money next year to start construction in 1997.
The bill also allocates $925,000 for the annual spring truck haul of sand to the resort strip and $570,000 for the maintenance dredging of Rudee Inlet. Both projects traditionally have been federally funded.
Virginia Beach officials were nervous about the fate of the four projects because the Clinton administration had threatened in February to slash federal funding for local coastal projects nationwide.
``This is great,'' said Phillip J. Roehrs, the city's coastal engineer. ``We were very concerned about this bill.''
Robert R. Matthias, assistant to the city manager, said, ``We're very happy. The hurricane protection project has become a reality and Sandbridge is one step closer to becoming funded.''
As part of his ``reinventing government'' campaign, Clinton wanted to restructure the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is partners with the city in these projects.
The president recommended a smaller, leaner Army Corps - one that would withdraw gradually from its historic role as a federal funding and regulatory source for local flood, erosion, wetlands and dredging projects.
Under the plan, the corps would not tackle any new non-military construction jobs this fiscal year unless a project was deemed nationally significant and provided a benefit that was twice its cost.
Virginia Beach stood to lose $200 million in projects.
``Both the House committee and the Senate committee did not go along with the administration's approach on local projects,'' said Rep. Owen B. Pickett, who pushed for the Virginia Beach projects.
``While there may be some phasing out of some projects in a period of years, we both felt an abrupt cutoff would not be fair to the states and localities,'' Pickett said.
Pickett said he would expect Sandbridge to get construction funding next year, as long as the criteria for funding local projects remains the same.
``That (Clinton's plan) was a bad idea,'' explained James R. Creighton, Army Corps project manager. ``There was such an outcry from all the coastal states who all have erosion problems. They let their congressional representatives know that they thought this was essential.''
Congress ignored the president's plan and funded all of Virginia Beach's requests.
The $93 million hurricane protection project, which should take about two years to construct, will widen the beach from Rudee Inlet to Fort Story, build a seawall and expanded Boardwalk from Rudee Inlet to 40th Street, erect a new bulkhead from 40th Street to 58th Street and replenish the dunes from 58th Street to Fort Story.
The Sandbridge project calls for pumping sand on 4 1/2 miles of beach at a cost of $9 million. It's hoped the sand would arrive in the spring of 1997.
Both projects will be funded 65 percent by the federal government and 35 percent by the city.
``Congress, on these local projects where there's a long history with the federal government, is saying it's inappropriate to cut off that partnership at the last minute,'' Matthias said.
The city has been working with the Army Engineers on the resort project for 25 years and on the Sandbridge project for 10 years.
``This is absolutely wonderful,'' said Thomas E. Fraim, chairman of the city's Erosion Commission.
``When you do a project like this at the resort area, you save the tax base, the income source that runs the city.''
Fraim, who lives in Sandbridge and was tracking the Northeaster Tuesday, said, ``We at Sandbridge are cautiously optimistic that we'll be done next.'' ILLUSTRATION: STEVE EARLEY
The Virginian-Pilot
Ron DeAngelis, left, who owns houses in Sandbridge, talks with
Virginia Beach coastal engineer Phillip J. Roehrs as surf pounds a
collapsed bulkhead Tuesday. Under legislation approved Monday,
$475,000 will be provided for engineering and design of a sand
replenishment project at Sandbridge.
KEYWORDS: BEACH EROSION by CNB