FENWICK ISLAND – At this month’s meeting, several Fenwick council members aired concerns over grading the dune crossings in time for summer.
During Fenwick Island’s Town Council meeting at the end of last month Councilman Todd Smallwood expressed concern over the height of the dune crossings to enter and exit the beach along town.
“I walked the beach the other day and between E. Atlantic St. and Lewes St. there are at least five dune crossings that if you aren’t under the age of 50 you aren’t getting back off the beach,” Smallwood said.
Smallwood furthered the ADA beach access point in Fenwick is Bayard St. where currently a wheelchair would not be able to cross.
“At some point in time … if someone drives here from Delmar having a reasonable expectation to access our beach and they can’t … we need to take some kind of action,” he said.
Council Treasurer Gardner Bunting pointed out Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) beach crews have been repairing dune fencing in Bethany.
“They have been working up there almost all winter,” Bunting said. “My concern is, are they going to get here in time for summer.”
Smallwood added the dune fencing in Fenwick is also in need of repair as he has spotted gaps between Atlantic and S. Hampton streets.
“I contacted DNREC’s beach crew when I first saw sand building up on the crossings. The last I was told from the beach supervisor was that they are working on a project in Broadkill Beach and they will work back down to all the beaches and open them up,” Public Works Supervisor Bryan Reed said. “All I was told is they are on top of it and they will be coming back down.”
According to DNREC Shoreline and Waterways Program Manager Dan Brower, DNREC beach crews are expected to begin on the dune crossing in Fenwick next week.
“There was some concern on their [council] part that it wouldn’t be done before the season and we assured them early on that we would be there before the visitors arrive,” Brower said. “Each year we go through this. This year is probably a little worse because of the frequency and intensity of some of these northeast storms that we’ve had, so there is a lot of material that has accumulated and there is a lot of work that has to be done with the crossings. In the post-Sandy [Superstorm Sandy] context it is kind of strange that there would be individuals complaining about the size of the dune. The dune has grown in Fenwick but that is a good thing.”
DNREC manages all dune crossings according to Army Corp of Engineers standards. The dunes in Rehoboth, Dewey, Bethany, South Bethany and Fenwick were all built as part of Army Corp of Engineers Beach Nourishment Program.
“In the case of Fenwick for instance where in some locations the dune has grown we’ll notch the crossings but we won’t lower the dunes … we will go in and grade the crossing down and re-fence it. We have done that every year since we have begun,” Brower said. “We don’t have any intention of notching the dunes because basically what that would do is provide a pathway for any high water or storm surge to come right through …”