City of Ocean Shores Mayor Frank Elduen recently declared a citywide emergency to ”implement measures to mitigate severe erosion damage” along Mariner Court SE and Peninsula Court SE just east of Duck Lake.

“Residents at Peninsula Court, as a result of the emergency proclamation, are seeking to do something similar and build a private dynamic revetment berm that will save their property at that location,” said Scott Andersen, Ocean Shores city administrator. “There has been some severe erosion there. It’s partly because many neighbors got in their permits for hard armoring before the new ecology and shoreline regulations came into place, and those people who do not have a berm in front of their house or hard armoring, the water will go wherever the rocks aren’t so it’s eating up and cutting into their property. The bulkhead will be private and paid for by the homeowners, it will require City Planner Marshall Read help facilitate all the permitting process for all parties involved. On Mariner Court the situation is somewhat similar.”

Andersen added that city property is also at risk and steps are being taken to protect key infrastructure.

According to the state of emergency proclamation, which was ratified by the Ocean Shores City Council during its regular meeting on Tuesday, the city has “experienced severe erosion to the shorelines located in the vicinity of Mariner Court SE and Peninsula Court SE,” and “efforts to reestablish the eroded shoreline have been met with strong wind driven waves causing additional erosion, and an ongoing storm system having significant wind driven surf, have caused significant additional erosion along the shoreline at the aforementioned locations.”

The proclamation also stated these storms have caused significant coastal flooding and extensive damage and that the city will work with local property owners to obtain financial resources regarding required permits and studies.

By virtue of the ratified proclamation, Mayor Elduen has declared a state of emergency due to severe storms and the secondary hazards posed to persons, property, and city infrastructure and has empowered city department directors “to exercise the powers vested under Chapter 38.52 RCW in light of the exigencies of the current emergency response situation without regard to nonconstitutional budget law limitations, requirements of competitive bidding and publication.”

The state of emergency will remain “in full force and effect until terminated by the issuance of a subsequent written order” which will be issued when the mayor determines that these extraordinary measures are no longer required for the protection of the public peace, safety and welfare.

The city of Ocean Shores has been working on multiple erosion mitigation initiatives in recent months, including constructing a new cobble berm along the north shore of Oyhut Bay, laying the groundwork for the repair of the north jetty and collaborating with the city of Westport and Grays Harbor County to combat common erosion problems. The city closed Damon Point to the public for the foreseeable future on Jan. 27.

Andersen said construction of the cobble berm should be finished by this weekend.

“Quick update on the Marine View Drive jetty, the city believes final construction will be completed by the end of this weekend, that will mean the berm will run from all along Neptune all the way down to the Quinault Marina and RV park, and it will tie in there to the relic jetty. To date, the city has received two different grants, one of $350,000 from the Washington State Department of Commerce, and an addendum grant based on the scope and scale of our activities from the Department of Commerce for the amount of $338,000, so a total of $688,000 to complete this berm. This is designed to get us through a season while we contemplate and we’re working with engineers to build a more permanent, stable structure.”

Andersen also updated the Council on future erosion fighting tactics as well, including the planned collaboration with the city of Westport, and read from a letter regarding enlisting Grays Harbor County to join the fight.

“The city of Ocean Shores and the city of Westport would like to commend Grays Harbor County and its board of county commissioners for their willingness and leadership in preparing and submitting a fiscal year ‘25 FEMA cooperative technical partnership (CTP) grant to develop a regional coastal resiliency strategy,” Andersen said. “Only through developing a larger holistic strategy will coastal county jurisdictions be able to meet the regional challenges their communities face from shoreline erosion, shoreline retreat, sea level rise, storm surge, king tides, atmospheric rivers and coastal flooding.”

Grays Harbor County has enlisted the help of Scott Boettcher to serve as the facilitator for applying for and securing the CTP grant.