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Flagler County officials reported last week that some of the money saved by bringing the county’s 11.4 mile dunes restoration project in-house will be used as the local match for the Army Corps project in the City of Flagler Beach.

“This is very exciting news,” said County Engineer Faith Alkhatib, who received a letter Tuesday afternoon from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) notifying her that the request to extend the Flagler County Hurricane Matthew Recovery Agreement until March 2021. There are about $3.9 million remaining funds.

“The state remaining funds may be used for state’s portion of the nonfederal share for dune construction work during USACE Flagler Beach project scheduled to begin in May 2020.” wrote Rob Buda, Program Administrator with FDEP. “The state’s portion is 50% of the nonfederal share for the dune.”

At Alkhatib’s request, the Department of Environmental Protection has committed to covering half of the $6.12 million local match – about $3 million. The Florida Department of Transportation is also willing to contribute $2.2 million to the local match.

“This leaves Flagler County’s responsibility at about $1 million of the local match,” Alkhatib said. “This is great news for our residents. Not only did we save money on the dunes restoration project, but we are keeping those savings within our community.”

The Army Corps federal project in Flagler Beach is less than 3 miles – from the north side of 6th Street to the south side of 28th Street – and will cost $17.5 million for the first phase of a 50-year authorization.

Initial construction in 2020 followed by four renourishments in 2031, 2042, 2053, and 2064. The project becomes eligible for federal emergency beach repair funding after the initial construction.

About 550,000 cubic yards of sand will be placed for the initial construction. The sand will be pumped onto the beach from an offshore location and graded into place by bulldozers.