By Tom Hyde
The North Coast News , September 30, 1998
Will the geotubes be put in place before the winter storms or not?
That's the central question and immediate issue facing Ocean Shores tight now. The city is involved to protect public infrastructure, including Ocean Shores Blvd. and the utility corridor next to it, not to protect private property, although that will be a secondary effect.
The proposal is to place large plastic tubes filled with sand along 540 feet of the eroding bluff with the hope that it will prevent the breach of the primary dune. While geotubes have been used on the East Coast with varying success, there are no guarantees it will take the pounding with the larger waves and logs in this environment. The tubes will be specially outfitted with conveyor belt material to ward off punctures.
City officials are concerned that if the dune breaches just north of the existing rock wave bumper, then Ocean Shores Blvd. could be flooded and jeopardized during heavy storms and high tides. According to the city's consulting engineering firm, Pacific International Engineering of Edmonds, there is the possibility that a southern portion of the city could flood during heavy storm events.
The process to put the geotubes in place has been far from easy. For every hurdle cleared, another seems to pop up a little further down the track.
Originally, the city planned to skip the permit process by declaring an emergency. That idea was abandoned since it wasn't really an emergency yet in February, and there was a threat of a lawsuit by environmental groups.
The city was then successful in obtaining a conditional use and shoreline permit, but the Hearing Examiner said a zoning variance was also needed. That process is underway.
Next, an agreement had to be amended and extended with Washington State Parks since part of the project would be within the state Seashore Conservation Area. The agreement not only covers the geotubes but also the existing wave bumpers.
'Me city originally entered into an agreement with state parks so that the rock wave bumpers could be put in place by the private North Beach Jetty Protection Limited Liability Corporation, a conglomerate of condominium owners and management companies. At that point the city assumed the liability with the state to pay for the removal of the temporary wave bumpers and any damage to state resources within the Seashore Conservation Area. The city has a subagreement with the private corporation where the corporation assumes the liability. But there are concerns, expressed privately, that the limited liability corporation could walk away from the deal.
The new agreement with State Parks, approved at the State Park commission's September 18 meeting, extends the agreement through May 18, 1999 and allows placement of geotubes north of the wave bumper. State Parks considers the geotubes an extension of the existing wave bumper, albeit a softer one.
There are a number of conditions. Among them, the city will be liable for the removal of both the geotubes and the wave bumpers, and will have to post a performance bond with the state to cover those costs.
There are other concerns for the city as well. If the geotubes area put in place and there is "end effect" erosion to the north, will the city be liable to those property owners for damage. Some property owners have already begun talk of lawsuits.
The final call on whether the tubes go in or not may be made by the Army Corps of Engineers. They will make a site determination next week on whether the tubes will be within their jurisdiction. If so, the city would have to secure an environmental permit, a process that would make it nearly impossible for anything to be done before winter storms.
Ironically, the issue could come back around to the Corps if nothing is done. If it looks like the dune will breach, or if it actually breaches, the city may call the Corps for an emergency response, possibly to dump rock or place some other type of structure in place to prevent the flooding of the south end of town, or the destruction of a portion of Ocean Shores Blvd.
The issue remains a tough and complex one for the city.