The Oak Island Pier, which suffered damage when Hurricane Matthew struck the area in October, has been closed to the public.
Meanwhile, Mayor Cin Brochure said Monday the town will completely rebuild the pier back to its pre-storm specifications — 27 feet tall and 850 feet long.
The existing pier will be dismantled in sections and a new pier built as the dismantling process continues out into the ocean.
Brochure said there were no estimates of how much the rebuild will cost — the job would have to be let out for bids. But she hopes that the town and its taxpayers will essentially be held harmless for the expense.
For one, the damaged pier is insured by Lloyd’s of London, which has inspected the Hurricane Matthew-inflicted damage but has otherwise dragged its feet in saying how much it will pay. Brochure said she did not fully understand what Lloyd’s was on the hook for, and, presumably, neither does town council.
But the town’s position is that the storm did much more to the structure than wiping out the last 150 feet of the pier, that the movement and sway of what remains — movement that forced the pier’s closing last Friday — is also the result of damage from Matthew.
Any shortfall from a Lloyd’s check and the actual cost of reconstruction will probably be covered by FEMA, the mayor said.
“But we can’t move forward with what help FEMA may give us until the insurance company says what it will do,” Brochure said.
“We have been promised that by the end of this week the final assessment will have been made,” Brochure said of the insurance standoff. “We know that we have a $176,500 deductible, but that will be covered by FEMA. We’re pretty sure.”
Lisa Stites, the assistant town manager, said the town hand-delivered a letter to pier operator Tommy Thomes on Friday, closing the pier. Stites said the closure will not affect the pier restaurant or store.
Photo and story originally written and posted on The Star News.
