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Point No Point Timeline

2023
Between late winter and the beginning of September, a number of reports were completed by our engineering team, based on existing conditions to help flesh out that picture. A revised draft design scenario will be avaialbe for the public to review in early fall.

To recap the year at Point No Point, we met with community members on February 9th to review the existing conditions, and results of ground and surface water modeling. The slides introduced the design alternatives review; these are posted with the Feb 9 meeting on the R hand panel (grey section) of our main page. A numerical groundwater modeling  study continued through February. It was then applied to the preliminary design scenario to predict changes to groundwater as a result of restoration. To supplement the very real existing conditions residents experienced on the ground between and during King Tide cycles, residents will have the opportunity to attend Community Meeting #2 (late October) where design alternatives will be demonstrated, with our engineer, Jessica Côté’s interpretive support.

Members of the community will receive not only a factual report in October, but one scrutinized by independent subject matter experts, funders and County representatives. Feedback from this peer review process in September, from project landowners in early October, and the larger Hansville Community and Commissioner on October 26th will make for a much stronger, more fitting design to move into the 30% phase.

As announced at our December 2022 Community Meeting, Mid Sound is holding fewer Community Meetings in 2023. Those meetings will be focused around important milestones. Milestones in this case are not the same as Decision Points, but they offer both new Community members, and members who have been following the project all along NEW information. In early 2023, Community Meetings were postponed to allow the County to get a foothold on the situation with the road out at Point No Point, and out of respect for County DIrectors and affected landowners stretched to capacity with emergency managment, As summer wanes, and residents look forward to another storm season, Mid Sound is available on site twice monthly to learn with the community about the status of the County’s active  N Beach repair,  to talk about designs for the estuary, and how they will work in concert with the County’s longterm plan for North Beach restoration.

Understanding existing conditions – in terms of Cultural Resources, Groundwater & Geotech, Wetland Habitat & Hydraulics – is the goal that must be reached before finalizing a Preliminary Design for review.

  • Mid Sound has funding planned to advance to 30% Preliminary Design (which may extend beyond 2023).
  • Outreach will continue to inform the next steps, but we will be working t o raise funding for this funding. Next steps could include 60% Design, Final Design, Permitting, and Construction. These steps are neither promised nor funded. If we reach the permitting phase, construction calendars for restorations like this one are limited to a fish window, and planting has its window as well. A number of factors will determine the timeline, but we are still looking out a number of years.
  • A mentioned previously, here are actions being taken by the County, separate from the Restoration project, to address the immediate safety needs of Point No Point residents. The County does not expect for residents to wait until a final decision is made with regard to the Restoration or for the Construction Phase to be funded and complete to take actions that will make the neighborhood liveable. The neighborhood exists within the FEMA floodplain and King Tides remain a known threat. Mid Sound is aware that these threats rank most highly among resident concerns, and this project manager defers to the County for leadership and communication regarding emergency management. However justified the frustration, residents coming to the discussion of Restoration at this stage will be more empowered by a presentation of the comprehensive study and its potential for coastal resilience once the threat has been (temporarily) downgraded, and professionals with the expertise to address technical details are in the room.
  • If nothing else, this information gathering phase has revealed to Mid Sound, Blue Coast & the current County administration that residents have lived with threat for some time. Mid Sound has hours of anecdotal data reported by residents and made public monthly to members of the Commissioner’s team, and Parks and Public Works Directors. The data reviewed at the August sessions clearly back up these reports, and beyond our current scope suggested that restoration of the North Beach be investigated as well to protect project-adjacent properties. The County cannot sign off on the Preliminary Design for a project that will increase the threat. Blue Coast Engineering is bound by a similar ethical & professional standard. Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group is bound by a similar ethical and professional standard. The Commissioner has responded personally to emails from residents echoing this same standard.
  • The County has not yet formulated a maintenance plan of a Restored Point No Point, because this is the Preliminary Design phase. Until a design is chosen, there is no way for the County to assign roles and detail commitments within an uncertain project footprint. Formal maintenance plans will be part of final designs, and will be required by permit reviewers. Monitoring protocols will be required, too. Funding for Restoration requires more oversight post-construction, not less. Mid Sound Fisheries and other habitat restoration sponsors and coastal resilience engineers learn best practices from the monitoring required by regional sister projects and we will evolve our practices to serve a thriving community. Other projects will learn from this project. No Point No Point Estuary Restoration will be allowed to move forward that does not have a signed commitment in place to maintain the project long term. The details of this agreement will be made public according to convention at the appropriate stage.
  • If the Restoration proposed during this Preliminary Design phase does not come to pass, the exhaustive research (and advanced modeling demanded by the residents who have followed this project closely) will help the Resource Managers to understand what alternatives (if any) exist at this stage of the science and technology to installing a more appropriately sized tidegate. Regardless of whether the County is able to restore Point No Point, the improvements to the North Beach supported by the model our engineers developed will inform coastal resilience planning in the future. Without putting a shovel to the ground or taking the design to a vote, the work Mid Sound is funded currently to perform will be a net positive for residents along Point No Point Road.

Updated Summer 2023