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Kitty Hawk beach nourishment should start next year

Posted at 8:42 PM, May 12, 2015
and last updated 2015-05-12 20:42:40-04

Kitty Hawk, N.C. (WTKR) -Sand to nourish the beaches of Kitty Hawk could start pumping by 2016.

Years of coastal storms on the Outer Banks have resulted in significant beach erosion.

The project would reduce flooding caused by ocean over wash conditions, which can impede traffic on NC 12 and US 158, delaying emergency response.

"We are entering into a beach nourishment project and our stated goal is to protect infrastructure. Road. Between the highway. Kitty Hawk is in a bowl. And that bowl fills up with any over wash and the over wash impacts you're ability to get in and out," Mayor Gary Perry told NewsChannel 3's Todd Corillo Tuesday.

A good portion of the cost will be funded by Dare County, but more than $4.5 million will have to come from Kitty Hawk.

To help pay that cost, the town has established a Municipal Service District with increased taxes for the span of five years.

"The Municipal Service District is a special taxing district where it allows us to tax that district extra funds for something that it integral to saving their infrastructure," Perry said.

The next step is for the Kitty Hawk Town Council to vote on the proposed tax rates in June and then for engineers to begin studying how best to nourish the beach.

You can read more about the proposed Beach Nourishment Project here.

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