US Army Corps of Engineers

US Army Corps of Engineers

Bill Biddlecome

Washington Regulatory Field Office

2407 West Fifth Street

Washington, NC 27889

Corps Action ID Number SAW-2013-01129

July _____, 2013

To whom it may concern,

As a (______business owner, resident, property owner, vendor, visitor) I am writing to express my support for USACE approval of the application submitted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation for the proposed emergency beach nourishment project designed to protect North Carolina Hwy 12 on Hatteras Island and the S-Curves/Mirlo Beach area. In the public notice for the project, this action is listed as Alternative Three. Furthermore, the area identified is currently under an official Declaration of Emergency issued by the Governor, therefore I would also ask for any assistance your department can provide in expediting construction of this vital protective measure to help restore a reasonable level of reliability, stability and safety to NC 12 in that location until the long term solution can be implemented.

In asking for your approval of Alternative Number Three, I would not want to in any way tie the hands of NCDOT if a future event occurs that changes the “on the ground” situation such that another alternative would need to be considered. I agree that NCDOT’s preferred alternative is the best choice at this time to protect NC HWY 12 in the identified area.

North Carolina Highway 12 plays an integral part in state and local plans for providing for the safety and security of the citizens and visitors of Hatteras Island. The highway is crucial for hurricane and emergency evacuations. It provides the sole means of evacuation for up to 40,000 residents and visitors. If the highway could not be utilized for an evacuation, ferries would not be adequate to safely evacuate Hatteras Island. Even with good weather, ferries could only evacuate a small fraction of the Island’s population.

Additionally, as the sole means of access to Hatteras Island, the highway also serves an essential role in providing emergency access for EMS, Fire Service and Law Enforcement vehicles. The time required to transport patients requiring medical assistance would be increased and the ability of police and fire departments to receive timely assistance from other departments would be reduced. Without the road, the North Carolina Highway Patrol, the Dare County Sheriff’s Office, Dare County EMS and other public service agencies would face serious challenges maintaining adequate staff readiness on a continuing basis. Many public safety employees rely upon the highway to report for duty. Without it, personnel levels could become compromised and further threaten public safety.

(To customize, a paragraph can be inserted here where the writer can state what NC Hwy 12 means to them personally)

Thank you in advance for USACE’s approval of NCDOT’s application for the project and your departments assistance in designing the project, administering the contract and overseeing the project operations.

Sincerely,

Name, address