THE HAMMOCK
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 1, NO. 5
Redesign too pricey? PAGE 6A
FREE ON NEWSSTANDS | THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2025
Should voters decide on the half cent sales tax? Flagler Beach rejects county’s $1.4M beach funding plan, counters with demand for referendum. PAGE 6A
Study shows vulnerability to flooding
$5.5M dune work begins at Jungle Hut
Assessment could help Palm Coast tackle concerns
This phase of work wraps up the dune restoration work at Varn Park, which reopens on July 31. The Jungle Hut Park section will likely take through mid-October to complete.
PAGE 3A
SIERRA WILLIAMS
Is your business prepared? Take the survey PAGE 7A INSIDE NEW COACH
New Matanzas boys lacrosse coach — a Hammock resident — honors fallen high school teammate PAGE 5B
EVENT RETURNS
PGA Tour Champions event moves to Hammock Beach Ocean Course in 2026 PAGE 7B
INDEX
Business.................... PAGE 11A Calendar..................... PAGE 4B Cops Corner................PAGE 2A Crossword...................PAGE 7B Letters.......................PAGE 10A Public Notices............ PAGE 5C Sports......................... PAGE 5B Tributes ...................... PAGE 2C Real Estate................. PAGE 2B
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The emergency dune restoration work at Varn Park is wrapping up and moving north to begin the next project: restoring dunes from Jungle Hut Park to the southern edge of Mala Compra Park. Varn Park reopens on July 31, while the entrance to Jungle Hut Park is now closed, beginning July 28, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The parking lot, restrooms and beach access will be open to the public outside of those hours and on the weekend. The dune restorations projects not only place sand to build up the dunes and protect the beach-side property and infrastructure, but vegetation is planted to try and help keep the sand in place. Coastal Engineering Administrator Ansley Wren-Key said the contractor — Eastman Aggregate Enterprises — will be storing its equipment at Jungle Hut Park, and it is important for beachgoers to use the walkovers and avoid the equipment in the meantime. The restoration is expected to take through mid-October, depending on weather delays and storms. Wren-Key said the Varn Park and Jungle Hut dune restorations are two separate projects. “But it [the dunes] will be built as if it’s one project,” she said. Wren-Key said with both sections of dune restoration, the county reached out to the local property owners for help funding the projects: the Hammock Dunes Association, the Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa and Ocean Hammock. The Varn Park portion of the project added 8 cubic yards per
The dunes and turtle nests at Old Salt Park, which will be included in the emergency dune restoration project at Jungle Hut Park. The contractor will have to work around the many turtle nests along the dunes. Photo by Sierra Williams
foot of sand between Varn Park and Jungle Hut Park. It cost $8.8 million for the construction at Varn Park: $4.4 million was from a “dune only” work fund with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Flagler County had to match the $4.4 million, with the Hammock Dunes association contributing $2.2 million in funding. The beach was last restored in 2023 when the county went through the north section of shoreline and placed 6 cubic yards per foot of sand as part of the county’s emergency dune project. Hammock Dunes already had a permit, Wren-Key said, that would have allowed up to 20 cubic yards per foot of sand. The limited funding restricted it to just 8 cubic yards. But that’s more than what is available for the Jungle Hut section. Because the county does not have a special permit, it is working
under its emergency order from Hurricane Milton. That order allows Flagler County to place 6 cubic yard per foot of sand to the dunes. This project will cost $5.5 million in total, with Flagler County funding it through hurricane recovery funds and a $1 million combined funding contribution from the Hammock Beach resort and Ocean Hammock. The funding and lack of additional permit also restricts what the contractor and county can do regarding the sea turtle nests that dot the beach. Wren-Key said with the Varn Park portion, the nests were able to be relocated. But with the Jungle Hut section, the contractor has to skip over the areas with turtle nests. “What he’ll do is basically he’ll build around and leave gaps, and then he’ll come back as those turtle nests hatch out of the nest, then
he’ll come back and fill in the gaps,” Wren-Key said. The two projects only restore the dunes, they do not impact the berm, or “towel space,” beach goers utilize. However, the county is making steps towards Reach II, the second phase of its beach management plan. Reach II stretches from the south end of Varn Park to Flagler Beach, where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project left off. The county will soon have the permits for Reach II, she said, and will be able to send out to bid for the project after that. Construction on Reach II could begin in 2026. Reach II, Wren-Key said, will add about 150 feet of towel space to the beach, as well as around 80 cubic yards per foot of sand to the dunes. In the meantime, if upcoming hurricanes or storms wash away the dunes, she said, the county has a local supplier of sand who can fill in any washed out areas.