Bowers Councilman Bob McDevitt shows the effects of beach erosion on his house.

DOVER, Del.- Three coastal communities in Kent County are scheduled to receive beach replenishment this year.

Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control said Bowers Beach, Kitts Hummock, and Pickering Beach will receive truck-loads of sand starting in February to help repair beaches and dunes.

An agency spokesman said the final cost for the beach replenishment had not been determined but noted the project would be paid in part with $300,000 from three lawmakers' Community Trust Fund allocations.

Bob McDevitt, a Bowers councilman who lives in a beachfront home, said taxpayer money may be used to foot the bill for replenishment but the result benefits a public beach --- not just homeowners who live on the coast.

"What happens when there's a sinkhole in Dover in front of the house in the street? Who fixes that? That's how I look at it. Here's my street and it needs to be fixed," he said.

DNREC said Sen. Colin Bonini (R-Dover South) and Reps. Andria Bennett (D-Dover East) and Charlie Postles (R-Milford) had individually pledged $100,000 in CTF money, which is used by lawmakers to fund minor transportation projects at publicly-accessible roads or locations.

Postles said beach replenishment will benefit the town's economy and public safety, noting that many Bowers roads are underwater when big storms hit the battered beach.

"It will most definitely help from shoreline protection and even natural wildlife preservation kind of things," he said.