FENWICK ISLAND – Officials in Fenwick Island have granted a new hotel permission to begin construction in the early morning hours for nine days.
On July 17, Spiro Buas, developer of the new Tapestry Collection by Hilton, came before the Fenwick Island Town Council requesting a waiver to allow construction at his property to begin at 6:30 a.m. on nine identified dates from late July through September. The earlier start time is expected to allow crews to pour three sections of concrete slab at the property.
“We have to do this methodically,” Buas said, “so we have the time and a product that’s acceptable.”
According to the developer’s schedule, construction crews will be pouring concrete at the property from July 23 to Sept. 30 in three different sections, with each section consisting of three days of work.
With each series of pours, Buas said crews will begin at the south side of the construction site and move north.
“Each event is three days,” he said. “After the first day, we pause for five days and then do the second and third days of that event.”
Buas said the first pour was expected to take place this week, while the second and third pours on or about Aug. 22 and Sept. 20, respectively.
Buas told the council construction crews will set up the pump truck on site at 6:30 a.m. and the first concrete truck will arrive to prime the pump truck at 6:45 a.m. Pouring is expected to begin at 7 a.m.
Councilwoman Vicki Carmean questioned the level of noise associated with the pours.
“Is this a noisy event?” she asked. “Is there a lot of noise that will go all over the neighborhood?”
Officials with Harkins Builders, however, noted the minimal noise associated with Buas’ request. Buas added that construction crews would also schedule the pours to avoid Saturdays.
“The first day is not set in stone,” he said. “If a pour fell on a Saturday, we would bump it to a Monday anyway. We won’t do it on a Saturday.”
Town Manager Terry Tieman also requested Buas notify surrounding neighbors with hang tags 24 to 48 hours prior to pouring the concrete.
“As soon as you know the dates, we would also like to post them on the website and Facebook,” she said.
Carmean asked if the concrete work would require construction crews to close adjacent roads. Officials replied they would have someone directing traffic in the event of a closure and would inform local fire and police departments.
After further discussion, the council voted 7-0 to approve Buas’ request.
“I think after the first series of pours, they’ll realize this is really a non-event,” Buas said.
