The Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday approved a $60,0000 grant to reimburse Lynnhaven River Now for its work collecting oyster shells.
The city created the “Oyster Heritage Program Fund” in 2002 to restore and grow oyster habitats, reefs and beds throughout the city. Lynnhaven River Now, a nonprofit that works with community members to protect and restore Virginia Beach waterways, collected oysters shells for this project for years. A May audit revealed the city spent more than $650,000 on an oyster project to help restore the Lynnhaven River that had no actual plan.
In June, the city drafted a plan for the project and briefed the city council. That plan, which includes Public Works managing the Oyster Heritage Fund, was approved Tuesday.
In a phone interview, Councilman John Uhrin said the city should not have been in a position in which it was approving things that referenced a non-existent plan.
However, the city will continue to collect shells to create artificial reefs in the Lynnhaven River and other city waterways to improve water quality, Uhrin said.
The city is seeking bids from nonprofit organizations for the shell collection. The organization selected will collect shells from participating restaurants and deliver them to the city’s waste management site, where they will cure in the sun before being utilized as artificial reefs.
The bidding process typically lasts about a month before a selection is made for city approval, Uhrin said.
“We’re moving forward in a positive direction,” he said.
Lynnhaven River Now is eligible for the bidding. The contract will be awarded to the group that offers the best price per bushel of shells collected and delivered to the city’s landfill.
