Hillsboro, Deerfield fail to end sand war

A contentious meeting between officials from Hillsboro Beach and Deerfield Beach about beach sand endedwithout a resolutionWednesday.

Hillsboro says Deerfield’s so-called “sand groins”— man-made sand catchers that jut into the ocean — are starving its beaches of sand. Wednesday’s meeting was a required step before the issue goes to litigation.

The hour-long meeting ended abruptly with William Scherer, Deerfield’s attorney, declaring, “We challenge everything you say, including that you are acting in good faith.”

Burgess Hanson, Deerfield’s city manager, said an ideal solution would have Deerfield and Hillsboro join with nearby municipalities to manage the sand distribution regionally.

But removing the groins is out of the question, he said.

“Our city’s prepared to protect our public beach at whatever cost,” he said.

Hillsboro Manager Robert Kellogg said his town, which is lined with private beaches except one spot that sometimes erodes, would not insist on removing the groins.

It just wants some way to recoup the sand losses.

“The engineers will talk, the attorneys will talk and Burgess and Iwill talk to avoid this potentially protracted litigation,” he said.

ageggis@sun-sentinel .com, 561-243-6624 or @AnneBoca