Robin's Blog for Dauphin Island

Press-Register Article - By Scott L. Douglass
September 29th, 2008 5:02 PM

 

Sunday, September 28, 2008
By SCOTT L. DOUGLASS
Special to the Press-Register

Sandy beaches and barrier islands are important economic, environmental and quality-of-life assets in south Alabama. But nationwide, Dauphin Island has become the poster child for unwise coastal development and the folly of living on a barrier island.

Indeed, it has been cast in the national media as an example of the long-term fate of all developed barrier islands.

The island has been cut in two pieces and the western portion of "east Dauphin Island" overwashes repeatedly as hurricanes pass even hundreds of miles to the south. Many of the homes there have been destroyed, and all have been damaged multiple times by storm surge overwash and waves in the past decade.

The collapse of the west end of the island exposes the soft underbelly of the marshes of south Mobile County and Bayou La Batre to bigger waves, more erosion and higher storm surges.

This will cause problems with the built infrastructure as well as oyster beds and fishing.

The beaches of the easternmost mile of the island have eroded over 700 feet to the north in the past few decades.

Many of the changes to Dauphin Island are natural fluctuations. The migration of Sand Island onto Dauphin Island by the fishing pier has happened before — roughly 300 and 150 years ago — and it is right on schedule again.

This is one natural way that the island heals itself. Much of the is land's damage has occurred in storms. But blaming storms for beach erosion is a bit like blaming gravity for plane crashes.

Yes, gravity pulled the plane out of the sky, but there was obviously something wrong with the plane just before it fell.

There are only three proven ways to save the island's beaches, and some combination of these must be pursued.

One way is to back off, to retreat.

Moving construction back away from the eroding shoreline and away from hazardous overwash areas provides a sandy buffer between the surf and the buildings and lets the natural processes occur without damaging things.

Most of the eastern end of the island, including the old town center, is protected by some of the largest dunes on the Gulf of Mexico.

But elsewhere on the island, unless we are willing to permanently remove our houses, condos and businesses, some combination of the other two proven approaches — beach nourishment and sand bypassing — are required.

The island is downdrift of the Mobile Ship Channel, one of the largest sand thieves in America. Over 20 million cubic yards of sand have been permanently removed from the island's beach sand system needlessly by the ship channel.

Sand dredged from the outer bar of the ship channel must be "bypassed," i.e. placed on the beaches or in shallow water so that it can migrate quickly to the island's beaches.

The deficit of sand imposed by this tremendous withdrawal of sand over the past few decades should be replaced. Dauphin Island should really just be the poster child for the "folly of living downdrift of a federal navigation channel."

Beach nourishment has restored the beaches of Baldwin County and more than 350 miles of other beaches throughout the country, and it can restore the beaches of Dauphin Island.

A well-engineered beach restoration plan is not like the disastrous, so-called "FEMA berms" that have been constructed twice on the island in the past decade.

There is no way that those could have worked. They violated some of the principles of successful coastal engineering.

Essentially, they were attempts to stack sand on the beach unnaturally — and, as such, were doomed to fail.

Beaches take a certain shape in response to waves and tides and good coastal engineering tries to replicate those natural shapes. With limited resources, we must spend all available money on well-engineered projects that will succeed.

American beach communities with erosion problems that survive and thrive have one common characteristic: Everyone is on board with the need for sand bypassing and beach nourishment.

For Dauphin Island, this means the residents, the elected town government, the Park & Beach Board, the business community and the property owners' association as well as the Alabama State Port Authority and all the county, state and federal elected officials who represent the area.

Successful beach restoration projects in America are like a three-legged stool. The legs are the good engineering, the financing and the public perception. Without three strong legs, the stool collapses.

To convince citizens and elected officials to financially support island beach restoration, public access to the beaches of the island could be provided at every street end.

The new, open beach provided by the town is a step in the right direction. Unless public access to the island's beaches is improved, it is likely that the best solutions will not be politically possible and the island beaches will continue to deteriorate for another generation.

 


Posted by Robin Linn on September 29th, 2008 5:02 PMPost a Comment (0)

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ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW ON THE MOBILE PRESS-REGISTER EDITORIAL REGARDING DAUPHIN ISLAND
September 7th, 2008 10:18 AM

 

Press Register Editorial Shows More Emotion Than Reason Blasting Dauphin Island

Like the human beings we are, sometimes emotion rules reason. Today the Press Register continues to bash the sand berm at Dauphin Island that washes away with most every hurricane events. Piling sand against mother nature, or fighting mother nature in any regard, is easily seen as fool hardy. The paper does not like the west end of Dauphin Island or the tax paying citizens any more than a Democrat. When it comes to sand as pork, the newspaper sees some gifts of government largesse funding as waste while others honorable, depending on where. All across America (Gulf Shores, the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, Little Lagoon, Perdido Pass, Biloxi, Pensacola Beach etc… beaches are piling sand and fighting erosion with government funds. BUT NONE OF THESE PROJECTS are also mitigating the US Government’s own mistakes like Dauphin Island, the real reason that the newspaper lacks reason in their opinion.

Dauphin Island erosion is like all of the other erosion projects plus the ADDITIONAL factor of the US Govt Corp of Engineer dredging has damaged the island’s existence. Experts and scientists at our own University of South Alabama admit the Mobile Ship Channel is liable for increasing the storm damage. Locals know sand along the Gulf coast migrates east to west. NASA satellite photos show for centuries Gulf Shores sand replenishes Fort Morgan sand that forms Dixie Bar which forms Sand Island and feeds Dauphin Island which flows to the west ends which flows to Petti Bois, Horn Island Cat etc… which are also vanishing. Why?

Since 1950’s the Mobile Ship channel is dredged and the sand is dumped at sea, lost forever. This interrupts the Mother nature hand off. Federal mitigation should pay to put the sand back, a condition unique to Dauphin Island. But when sand is piled at Gulf Shores where is the outrage. Port is pork, some pork is more reasonable. Daupin Island deserves it from an analysis of reason more than most sand berm projects on the Gulf coast because of the additional damage caused by Government dredging.


Posted by Robin Linn on September 7th, 2008 10:18 AMPost a Comment (0)

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Mobile Press-Register Editorial - Sunday September 7, 2008
September 7th, 2008 10:15 AM

 

I find myself quoting an excerpt from the first line of today's editorial published by the Mobile Press-Register Editorial Board when I say "TO NO one's great surprise...".  However, I am altering the remainder of the sentence to say that it is no surprise the Press-Register is once again bashing Dauphin Island but this time with more emotion than I have seen in a very long time.  Read on...

 

 

From the Mobile Press-Register Editorial Board

No more sand piles on Dauphin Island

Sunday, September 07, 2008

TO NO one's great surprise, Dauphin Island's incredible disappearing sand berm — now you see it, now you don't — has disappeared again.

More than $4 million worth of sand was washed away by the waves stirred up by Hurricane Gustav, which made landfall a good 200 miles from Dauphin Island. This is the second time in eight years the waters of the Gulf have swept away a berm built to protect the mainly private development on the island's fragile west end.

Here's the incredible part of the berm/berms: The public is paying good money to construct these sand piles. And Dauphin Island officials are pondering whether they should again ask Uncle Sugar in Washington to help them pound more sand.

Enough is enough.

The first berm was built in 2000, after Hurricane Georges caused major erosion on the island. That million-dollar barrier was breached within a year, and then Tropical Storm Isidore came along in 2002 and finished it off.

After Isidore, Dauphin Island officials decided that what the west end of the island needed was more sand. So they put together a berm reconstruction package and turned to the federal government for funding. Federal taxpayers ended up paying the lion's share of the bill.

The new berm had been in place just two weeks when two sections of it were wiped out in June 2007. The culprit was higher-than-usual tides — not a hurricane or even a tropical storm.

It appears that the effective life span of these berms is about two years — if you don't count the breaches caused by routine weather events.

Those who favor berm-building argue the sand barriers aren't meant to withstand major storms. Their purpose is to protect the west end of the island from relatively minor episodes of high water.

So, the argument is that taxpayers should pay — again and again — for berms that won't survive even a glancing blow from a storm like Gustav?

If Dauphin Island residents want to keep building berms in a futile effort to stop the Gulf's encroachment, they should cover the full cost of the projects.

The fact the islanders decided to establish a public beach on the west end doesn't mean that the homeowners' problem is now a state and national problem. Those who gamble on owning homes in such a high-risk area should be prepared to face the financial consequences.

Allowing Dauphin Island residents to pass most of the cost of their choices on to taxpayers in other places encourages the irrational policy of building berms that collapse in a matter of months.

It's time Dauphin Island officials seriously considered another option that has the potential to protect the entire barrier island: a full-scale beach renourishment project.

Beach renourishment seems to have worked in Gulf Shores. Dauphin Island residents can make a better argument for federal assistance if engineers and coastal experts determine renourishment would stabilize the barrier island and maintain it as a buffer for south Mobile County.


©2008 
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Posted by Robin Linn on September 7th, 2008 10:15 AMPost a Comment (0)

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Status of Power Connections to West End Properties
September 3rd, 2008 8:37 PM

 

Hello everyone... the Town of Dauphin Island has issued a list of properties that will be restricted from the ability to connect power to their homes on the West End of the island as a result of errosion from Hurricane Gustav.  Please note the Town has said that the restriction holds until the water has receded at the high tide level. The memo and list has been sent to all real estate companies and is effective as of September 3, 2008.  I am recreating this memo and list as received and have the original faxed copy at ACP's office.  Please contact the Town of Dauphin Island at 251-861-5525 for additional information.  

The following is a quote from Wanda Sandagger with the Town of Dauphin Island, Inspections Department.

From the Town of Dauphin Island:

"Regarding: the following properties will not be allowed to have power until the water has receded at high tide. Approx. 25' away from the piling.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Town of Dauphin Island, Inspections Department

No Power to the Following Homes"

 

101 St. Denis Ct.                           103 Strand Ct.

2229 Bienville Blvd.                       103 Surf Ct.

2231 Bienville Blvd.                       100 Tampico Ct.

2233 Bienville Blvd.                       100 Tecumseh Ct.

2237 Bienville Blvd.                       102 Tampico Ct.

2239 Bienville Blvd.                       103 Tampico Ct.

2301 Bienville Blvd.                       103 Tecumseh Ct.

2303 Bienville Blvd.                       104 Tierra Ct.

2431 Bienville Blvd.                       103 Tonty Ct.

2603 Bienville Blvd.                       104 Tovar Ct.

2611 Bienville Blvd.                       103 Treasure Ct.

2613 Bienville Blvd.                       104 Vaca Ct.

2615 Bienville Blvd.                       104 Vargas Ct.

101 Seneca Ct.                              103 Vargas Ct.

100 Shell Ct.                                  105 Vargas Ct.

102 Shell Ct.                                  104 Westward Ho Ct.

100 Slidell Ct.                                106 Westward Ho Ct.

102 Strand Ct.                               2933 Bienville  Blvd.


Posted by Robin Linn on September 3rd, 2008 8:37 PMPost a Comment (0)

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Hurricane Gustav Update from Bill Harper, DIPOA President
September 3rd, 2008 7:46 PM
 
Below is a message from our Dauphin Island Property Owners' Association President regarding the current status of the island as a result of Hurricane Gustav.  I surveyed and inspected west end properties yesterday and plan on taking photographs tomorrow (Thursday, September 4) in order to provide updated visual information.  That is, of course, should the police checkpoint allow me access beyond Raphael Semmes and Bienville Boulevard.  We thank everyone for their patience!
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Message From Bill Harper
September 3, 2008
 
Dear friends,
 
Well, Hurricane Gustav has come and gone after a tense week of watching this storm work it's way into the Gulf of Mexico. It could have been worst for us, and for that we are grateful. Our neighbors to the West took a beating and our thoughts are with them for all they have gone through over the past several years.
 
Here on Dauphin Island things are getting back to normal. We lost power to the island late Sunday afternoon well before any strong weather had arrived surprising many of us, me included. Monday, Labor Day, was a blustery day followed by rain bands coming out of the Gulf most of the day and into the evening. The heavy surf hitting the Island battered our shoreline from the east to west. The Berm is basically gone, spreading out over nearby properties on the near west end, and over the Bieville Blvd further down of the far West End.  Damage was light to structures on the West End, mostly stairs, especially on the south side of beach houses. Tides were high in many areas of the back side, but subsided quickly during the day. The causeway north of the bridge flooded cutting access to and from the island most of Monday, but was reopened later in the evening. Alabama Power rolled at first light Tuesday restoring power midday to most of the island, except the western section. The East end saw some beach erosion at the Campground beach and further down at the Bird Sanctuary beach too. Our golf course had a small overwash on the greens area of hole #3, near to the Desoto Landing property line. The rest of the Isle Dauphine Club property fared well. We hosted much of the Town's Street Department's vehicles and heavy equipment at our Club parking lot since it is one of the highest areas on the Island, and much higher than their Aloe Bay site.
 
I asked Mayor Collier to give us the following update:
 
"PRIMARY IMPACT TO ISLAND BY HURRICANE GUSTAV WAS WIND DRIVEN STORM SURGE THAT WASHED OVER THE WEST END TOTALLY DESTROYING THE BERM AND BURYING THE MOST OF THE TWO LANE PORTION OF BIENVILLE BOULEVARD UNDER 1-2 FEET OF SAND. TOWN REPRESENTATIVES WILL BE MEETING WITH STATE AND FEDERAL OFFICIALS THIS WEEK TO DETERMINE THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION TO REMOVE DISPLACED SAND AND REPAIR DAMAGES TO INFRASTRUCTURE IN A TIMELY FASHION. A POLICE CHECK POINT IS IN PLACE AT RAPHAEL SEMMES & BIENVILLE BLVD TO LIMIT ACCESS TO THE WEST END PRIMARILY TO PROPER OWNERS IN THAT AREA. DAMAGE TO RESIDENTIAL AND BUSINESS STRUCTURES ON THE ISLAND WAS RELATIVELY LIGHT AND ALL UTILITIES HAVE BEEN RESTORED TO MOST PARTS OF THE ISLAND. ALL IN ALL, THE ISLAND WAS SPARED THE WORST OF GUSTAV AND WE ARE POISED FOR A SPEEDY RECOVERY."
 
One of our members took pictures throughout the day on Monday, September 1st, of the Island, from east to west, posting them on his website, which I have included a link for you to see. It includes many shots of the West End houses. Our thanks to him for this service.  
 
 
We have a few more months of hurricane season ahead, let's hope that Gustav is the last of these menacing storms. If you have any questions or need our help, don't hesitate to contact us at 251-861-2433, dipoa@skyynett.com .
 
Our next board meeting is Thursday, September 11, at 3:00 pm in the Club building. At this meeting our Architectural Committee and it's work will be highlighted by presentations from our chairman, Tom Howes, and our real estate attorney/advisor, Bob Laurendine. All members are welcome to our Board of Directors meetings.
 
Best regards,
 
 
William (Bill) Harper
DIPOA
 
 
 


 

Posted by Robin Linn on September 3rd, 2008 7:46 PMPost a Comment (0)

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