Surfside pier unlikely to reopen until 2018

Surfside Beach has awarded a bid to Hagerty Consulting LLC of Evanston, Illinois for $125,000 to work on a grant proposal to replace its pier, which will likely not be reopened until at least the spring of 2018.

The town is attempting to secure a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to rebuild the pier, which was partially destroyed during Hurricane Matthew in October. Hagerty will assist as the town drafts its request for funds and deals with the federal agency. The cost of using the consultant is eligible to be reimbursed up to 75 percent by FEMA funds.

Town Administrator Micki Fellner said her “best case scenario” is that in June FEMA gives the city a green light to put the project out to bid, with work starting in October and finishing by May 2018.

“This is going to be a process. This is not going to be a sit down and in three weeks we come out of the back end,” she said.

Hagerty is a firm that has also worked with Horry County and has expertise in dealing with underwater structures. Fellner said the company has been successful in the past in both securing FEMA grant funds and in securing FEMA reimbursement for its own fee.

This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Surfside pier unlikely to reopen until 2018."