Orange Beach, AL

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Perdido Pass to be dredged - al.com

Perdido Pass to be dredged - al.com: "ORANGE BEACH — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers aims to begin dredging the navigation channels through Perdido Pass within a month, likely removing more than 400,000 cubic square yards of sand that has choked boating lanes in recent years.

City officials had hoped to use that sand — equal to about 25,000 dump truckloads — to bolster portions of its manmade beach that were eroded by this past summer's storms. It's estimated that hurricanes Ike and Gustav, though they merely passed by in the Gulf of Mexico, swept away about 750,000 cubic yards of sand from Orange Beach's shoreline, Coastal Resource Manager Phillip West said."

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Four-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of The Year, Kenny Chesney, will bring his 2009 Sun City Carnival Tour to The Amphitheater at The Wharf on Thursday, August 6th as a part of The Wharf’s Pepsi Concert Series.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, February 14th. You get them through Ticketmaster (1-800-745-3000) , The Amphitheater Box Office (open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), or at The Dock Store at The Marina.

Prickett Properties LLC has numerous vacation rentals available in Orange Beach Alabama so hurry to book your Orange Beach Alabama condo for the event of the year: Kenny Chesney is coming to the Wharf!

www.OrangeBeachVacationRentals.Net

www.GoToTheGulfCoast.com

Perdido Pass to be dredged

City would like to use dredged sand to bolster eroded beaches, but likely won't for funding reasons Thursday, February 12, 2009 By RYAN DEZEMBER Staff Reporter

ORANGE BEACH - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers aims to begin dredging the navigation channels through Perdido Pass within a month, likely removing more than 400,000 cubic square yards of sand that has choked boating lanes in recent years.

City officials had hoped to use that sand - equal to about 25,000 dump truckloads - to bolster portions of its manmade beach that were eroded by this past summer's storms. It's estimated that hurricanes Ike and Gustav, though they merely passed by in the Gulf of Mexico, swept away about 750,000 cubic yards of sand from Orange Beach's shoreline, Coastal Resource Manager Phillip West said.

To move the sand dredged from the pass from the place the corps usually deposits it - just west of the inlet's western jetty - to the spots it is needed would cost the city between $2 and $3 per cubic yard, West said. Meanwhile dredging up sand from deep in the Gulf and pumping it ashore will probably cost about $8 per cubic yard, he said.

Though there are obvious taxpayer savings even if Orange Beach can only use the pass sand to replace a little more than half of that lost in the storms, it will likely cost the city far less to do it the more expensive way. West said that's because the Federal Emergency Management Agency - which traditionally pays for most of the work to replace public property like roads, bridges and engineered beaches after storms - has so far rejected Orange Beach's proposal to use the pass sand.

During a brief discussion of the matter at Tuesday night's City Council meeting, elected officials said they were unwilling to chance having the Federal Emergency Management Agency refuse to reimburse them for the cost of moving the pass sand to where it was needed.

"We can't afford that risk," Mayor Tony Kennon said.

Councilman Jeff Silvers said: "I don't want to bash FEMA, but I don't have confidence in them right now."

Council members also said they didn't want to do anything to delay the Corps clearing out Perdido Pass.

Those navigation channels, which link the city's backbays and bayous to the open Gulf, are crucial to Orange Beach's charter fishing and recreational boating businesses. They've been steadily silting in over recent years, reaching the point now where, Councilman Brett Holk said, boats are running aground in areas marked as navigation channels.

Lisa Coghlan, a Corps of Engineers spokeswoman, said that the cost of dredging Perdido Pass and its adjacent channels into Terry Cove, Cotton Bayou and Bayou St. John has yet to be cal culated, in part because no one knows how long the weather-

dependent job will take to complete.

Last winter the corps spent $3.5 million rebuilding the eastern jetty and weir, which helps the pass hold its shape, in part by keeping beach sand on its westward drift from getting trapped in the navigation channels.

West said the corps has a dredging contractor finishing a job in Biloxi that will likely be moved to Orange Beach in the coming weeks. Trying to delay the dredging to work out a funding arrangement with FEMA could postpone dredging of the pass.

"I would hate to get us out of the loop and risk another storm season and completely close the pass," West said.

Though West said Orange Beach would try to move the pass sand as far west as possible without major funding, the city will likely have to begin planning a project to dredge sand from the Gulf of Mexico. Per FEMA rules, the city has up to three years after a storm to start such a project and be eligible for reimbursement, West said.

It could take as long as a year to plan and gain permitting to dredge sand from the Gulf, and in that time Orange Beach may be able to coordinate a beach renourishment project with neighboring Gulf Shores and perhaps even Dauphin Island to reduce costs, West said.

Let me preface this blog with the fact that I just returned from a week trip to the famous Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. Believe it or not, I enjoy traveling to other beach destinations and take notes from my trip to enhance the services and rentals we offer at Prickett Properties in Orange Beach Alabama.

The Atlantis amenities are over the top. There are shark tanks, an aquarium that beats the New Orleans aquarium hands down, huge water slides, a 30 minute lazy river ride with white water rapids, a casino, and of course those turquoise waters.

However, the Atlantis is lacking affordability. I guess that I have gotten use to good ole Orange Beach Alabama because I was shocked. A domestic beer was $7.50 and a kids hot dog was $10.00 by the pool. I shutter to think about the dinner menu prices. $16.00 for a grilled cheese....really? The adult entrees were a standard of $30-$40 and sides were extra.

"Extra" was actually the word of the week for our family because everything was "Extra." For example, it cost $15.00 a day per person to go to the gym. Rock climbing anyone? Extra! I might have stomached all the extras better had the Bahamian people sold it with a smile. Nah...who needs to be nice? You can afford it right?

I welcomed good ole Alabama prices as I returned home today and reflected on how affordable and nice of a destination we have right here at our back door in Orange Beach. Not to mention, our southern hospitality will make anyone feel at home.

A family of 8 can stay at Turquoise Place, a beachfront 3 bedroom luxury condo, for only $255.00 a night in Feb and $3800 a week in the peak season. The tower we stayed at the Atlantis runs about $800 a night for a HOTEL room. Not to mention, Turquoise Place has high-end amenities such as private hot tubs on each balcony, wolf gas ranges, outdoor gas grills, jacuzzi tubs with flat screens in the master bath and ipod docking station with surround sound. At the Atlantis, I got a dated bed and a tiny tub/shower combo and there was no balcony.

I am not undermining the beauty of the bahamian waters or the fabulous water-park amenities that the Atlantis had to offer. I am however noting how much our area has to offer at such a VERY affordable price.

Not to mention, Orange Beach is becoming quite the destination itself. Has everyone heard that Kenny Chesney is coming to the Wharf ????? Enough said :)

Visit our website for fabulous Orange Beach Alabama Vacation Rentals

Prickett Properties LLC

Http://www.GoToTheGulfCoast.com

Hey, I'm putting together the details on the auction for everyone we had that was interested in it. I'll go ahead a give you the snap shot. The penthouses went for 375K to 480K. The corner units (3/3 w/wet bars) went for as low as 200Ft. (315K w/out auction cost) interior 3/3 units went as low as 250k w/out auction cost. I'll send you the article. I think total units sold was 60+ units and I'm looking to see if I can get anymore from them. We had one family show up and got them the 3/3 corner unit. I have others now wanting to get in so if your interested let me know.

Talk to you soon,

Chad