LONG NECK, Del.- It is a usual sight to see boats sailing through the Rehoboth Bay but as you get closer to some homes, damage is highly visible.
John Stevens’ home is at the end of Joann Drive and has owned the property for 16 years. He says this is the worst condition the bulkheads by his house have been in.
"The holes underneath there are approximately three feet," Stevens said. "Which means that as the tide comes in and the tide goes out the water level literally washes up underneath the house similar to what you saw in my neighbor’s property only to a much greater degree because this problem has perpetuated for several years."
The president of the homeowner’s association emailed all residents in mid-July saying that owner of Mariner's Cove, Equity Lifestyle Properties, had hired a construction company to fill holes in the bulkheads and other areas. The work was to start July 17 and could take as much as three months.
Paul Guidone also has damage to his bulkheads. There are gaping holes causing a lot of water to come in and sand to support it is going into the canal. His two-year-old deck did not last long from when it was installed.
"We just didn’t know how bad it was until we actually lifted up our boards our decking and right now as you can see it’s more of a safety issue that had we not lifted it up it was just going to sink right in," Guidone said.
WRDE reached out to Sussex County. Officials say that because this is an issue dealing with a waterway that it is the Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control's (DNREC) responsibility.
DNREC issued a permit on Wednesday for 14,000 feet of bulkheads to be replaced in the community. Work was scheduled to start on Thursday.