Jamie and Lake Worth Staff,
Please see photo attached below. The Town of Palm Beach’s proposal to drive trucks of sand along the length of our beach hinges on the ability of the trucks to pass safely under the Lake Worth Pier—while driving *only* on the 10’ wide strip owned by the ToPB.
Safe passage includes multiple issues—not damaging pier, ensuring human safety, not eroding our beach, etc., etc.—but at a minimum it requires sufficient height to pass the proposed truck type under the pier. This obviously must include a safety margin, without excavation of the sand underneath the pier, and while passing only on the 10’ strip owned by the ToPB. (Note that the state-owned foreshore area eastward of the MHW is under City of Lake Worth responsibility as part of our swimming area.)
Establishment of the exact location of this strip relative to the supports of the pier is therefore critical.
The eastern edge of this strip is the MHW line; the western edge 10’ to the west of the MHW line. As the Lake Worth Pier is a federal tidal station, the vertical elevation of MHW is well-established at the location of the pier.
During recent days, the tidal high water line was just east of the pier supports corresponding to the eastern edge of Benny’s (see photo). If the MHW line is close or landward of the recent high water line, then these pier supports would fall within the ToPB strip and truck passage would not be possible.
In light of these concerns, please ask the ToPB to provide a scale drawing of the section of the pier shown in the attached photo. The scale drawing needs to be a vertical cross-section, aligned with the pier center line, running approximately east-west and parallel to the pier, and must include the following:
• the locations and dimensions of all pier supports visible in the photo
• the location of the MHW line,
• the location of the western edge of the 10’ strip
• the vertical elevation of the MHW line (NAVD88)
• the vertical elevation of the western edge of the 10’ strip (NAVD88)
• The elevation of the lowest portion of the lower edge of the pier (NAVD88)
The horizontal locations need not be to the level of surveyed accuracy but can instead be measured relative to one set of pier supports, most logically those corresponding to the eastern edge of Benny’s. The drawing must nevertheless be to scale.
Please also ask the ToPB to include with the scale drawing a cutsheet or other independent document showing the height of the trucks the Town proposes to use.
I would encourage staff to make it clear to the Town of Palm Beach that the City of Lake Worth Beach cannot legally give permission to ToPB to drive on our beach nor can we allow them on state land for which we have safety responsibility.
I look forward to seeing the scale drawing.
Christopher
Christopher McVoy
Commissioner, District 2
City of Lake Worth Beach, FL
cmcvoy@lakeworthbeachfl.gov
561.398.6115 (C)
