Over the last couple of seasons, Cape Charles Beach has been shrinking. Some of it due to erosion, another part due to increased dune encroachment. The town has done little in the way of beach replenishment, and the Wetlands and “Dune” Board seem to be enjoying more dune and less beach.
Mr. Lockwood is one of the few left around here that actually gets it. In previous conversations, he told the Mirror that he felt the beach was the town’s crown jewel, “Look, this is why people come here, why families come here. It’s for the beach…if we maintain it, and continue to make it enjoyable, it will only get better, and everything else will follow…businesses will continue to thrive, the harbor will benefit, and tax revenue will continue to increase…”
Maintaining and rejuvenating the beach for the summer visitors has fallen on the shoulders of John Lockwood and his Public Works Department.
Public Works rented a bulldozer and loader, and during low tide, used the equipment to move sand from the south end of the beach to the north. The north end has been hit hardest by erosion.
Lockwood’s crew was able to stretch and widen the north beach by approximately 75 feet and the level was raised 3 feet. This will give the tourist crowds a little more room to enjoy the beach.
“We didn’t get much of a tan, but we moved a lot of sand” – John Lockwood.