By DOTTY NIST
Good news about the ability to fund the proposed Walton County Hurricane & Storm Damage Reduction (WCH&SDR) Project was shared at the latest workshop for the project.
Held at the South Walton Annex and hosted by the Walton County Tourist Development Council (TDC), the Oct. 6 workshop was the first to be led by Matt Trammell, new coastal management consultant for Walton County. Jim Bagby, TDC executive director, was also present to address attendees and answer questions about the project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was represented, as well.
Trammell told attendees, mainly beachfront property owners, that the county had not enlisted him to “sell” them on the project but to present facts to help property owners decide whether to opt in or out of the project.
Trammell noted that there had been little recovery on the much of the beach since Hurricane Dennis impacted the area in 2005. He suggested that in the event of a hurricane it would be preferable for sand placed in a beach restoration project to be washed away rather than the storm taking existing sand under structures and structures themselves.
Trammell reported good results for western Walton County, where almost five miles of beachfront was nourished in a large-scale project that was completed in 2007. Along that area, the beach has remained the same width or wider, although the dune is a little smaller now, he said.
The Western Walton County/Destin Beach Nourishment Project, which extended approximately two miles to the west into Destin, was a joint project by the two local governments and the state of Florida.
The WCH&SDR Project is a partnership effort of the USACE, Walton County, and the state.
Trammell noted that there had been confusion about the project. To clear up some misconceptions, he told attendees that the project does in fact propose to protect upland structures. He also observed that, while the USACE does favor acronyms, “in a nutshell, it is a beach restoration project.”
Trammell discussed the construction easement acquisition process for the project, which is ongoing. In order for project contractors to go onto a beachfront owner’s property to construct the project , the owner is required to sign such an easement. An insufficient number of signed easements may result in the USACE deeming the project unfeasible.
Trammell reported that, with 1,100 easements mailed out by the county still out, there had been 45 “yes” and 330 “no” responses. “Any nonresponse will be considered a no,” he noted.
Updated numbers for project cost had been released by USACE and were announced. Those put the project cost at $53.9 million for the initial construction and at $220.1 million total for the 50-year life of the project, accounting for inflation and providing for a number of renourishments.
Trammell explained that the project cost was set up to be split between Walton County (about 58 percent), the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the state (18 percent), and the USACE (24 percent).
The possibility that state funding might not be available was discussed.
“Really we don’t need the state funding,” Bagby said.
He explained that the “third cent” of bed tax funding that comes to the TDC for beach nourishment alone could conceivably pay for the project through its duration without other funding.
He noted that $14.5 million is in reserves from the third cent currently and that at least $354 million should be in place from this funding source over a 50-year period.
The possibility was considered that the project would not move forward due to an insufficient number of construction easements being approved by beachfront property owners. Trammel emphasized that, if the project does not move forward, a coastal management plan will still be needed. He noted that USACE looked at a number of alternatives as part of the feasibility study for the WCH&SDR Project, among those acquisition of the beachfront property in question and the use of seawalls. “All of those were found to be cost prohibitive,” he said.
In the event of storm erosion, seawalls may be difficult to get permitted, Trammell cautioned. Trucks installing them would be destructive to the beach, he continued.
If the current plan does not proceed, it will be necessary to “think long and hard about what our plan will be,” Trammell said.
He urged property owners to contact him with their issues of concern with the WCH&SDR Project. “Let’s work on those issues,” he suggested.
Information about the project, including a form for contacting Trammell, is available at: http://www.visitsouthwalton.com/industry/beach-nourishment.
The day of the workshop, there was news that a judge had ruled in favor of opponents of the WCH&SDR Project in a lawsuit challenging the project.
In a lawsuit filed in the Pensacola Division of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, Walton County beachfront property owners Lionel and Tammy Alford had made the argument that, due to the White Sand Protection Restrictions in the Walton County Land Development Code, the material to be placed on the beach through the project would be prohibited due to its color value.
On Oct. 6, United States Magistrate Judge Charles J. Kahn, Jr., ruled that the borrow material for the WCH&SDR Project would in fact be prohibited from being placed on the plaintiffs’ property. Judge Kahn rejected the county’s contention that the material would be exempt from the White Sand Protection Restrictions through an exemption in the LDC applying to “projects conducted by Walton County,” finding that the project would be “not one conducted by Walton County” but by the USACE.
There has been no word at this time as to whether Walton County will appeal the ruling or take other action aimed at resolving the impasse.
