Bayside Flooding & Resiliency Information & Discussion Session Follow Up
The Infrastructure hosted a Resiliency Information and Discussion at Town Hall on Aug 31. The committee would like to express a resounding THANK YOU to the 50+ community members who participated both in-person and online.
The meeting consisted of an overview of past and current flooding studies, AECOM’s study released in the spring, and Chapter 7 from the draft 2023 Comprehensive Plan entitled Resiliency: Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding. The presentation is available by clicking here. This was followed by information stations and maps placed around Town Hall and concluded with a questions and answer session.
Much of the discussion centered on the AECOM study which focused on the forecast for flooding on a street-by- street basis through the year 2080. Recommendations centered on risk assessment and vulnerability, monitoring and maintenance and bulkhead height increases. Community members voiced support for town action to coordinate guidelines on bulkhead height and to continue informing property owners about other options. The importance of seeking grant funding to finance individual and public projects and coordination with DelDOT and DNREC was also stressed. Another topic which generated comments was the need to survey current conditions, especially bulkhead heights.
Current drainage and storm runoff problems were raised, and committee members clarified that those problems are being documented and short term solutions will continue to be defined on an ongoing basis.
As a result of the meeting, the Infrastructure Committee is suggesting to form a flood resiliency sub committee. Ongoing education and proposals for next steps regarding storm water management, monitoring and bulkheads as well as implementation tasks associated with the Comprehensive Plan will be the goal of the subcommittee. Another community information session will likely be planned in the new year.
