Arlene Debris

[Landlocked]

Kurt or anyone else,

There were three piles of Arlene debris on the beach at Dune Allen this past week. Do they leave that stuff there in hopes of creating new dunes or is that stuff going to be picked up by contractors? What was so crazy is that 90% of it was new, treated lumber and even some of that expensive synthetic lumber $$$$$.

[FoX]

They are way too slow, having to go through appropriations, contracts, subs, etc. It will all be removed if not covered or washed away first.

Imagine you owned a restaurant and someone dumped 2 dumpsters full of rotten garbage in your parking lot and you waited a few months before cleaning it up.

Meanwhile you're the only restaurant around for 60 miles and people drove all the way to eat your food, and they didn't know about the garbage, and they're real hungry. So they go ahead and vomit on your doorstep and then come in and eat and then throw all their bones and plates on your floor - because after all, hey, you got garbage all around your place and they don't give a crap about your place since you don't either.

Ahhhh - but what if there's this thing called the internet and telephones and such and people start finding out about all your garbage and they stop driving to your place. Whatcha gonna do then. You got it. Make garbage pie and eat it too.

Pretty soon there's so much trash that it's everywhere and you can never pick it all up, so people start building on top of the trash. . . .

Point of the story - Walton County is pathetic. They should have the beaches cleaned up within 3 days of a storm.

[Smiling JOe]

Kurt or anyone else,

There were three piles of Arlene debris on the beach at Dune Allen this past week. Do they leave that stuff there in hopes of creating new dunes or is that stuff going to be picked up by contractors? What was so crazy is that 90% of it was new, treated lumber and even some of that expensive synthetic lumber $$$$$.

Not that I have the time, but I thought it would be cool to drive a trailer over and pick up all the wood debris, bring it home and use it to build recycled yard furniture. I could name each collection after the storm that brought it in.

[kurt]

Or a subdivision.

Ivan Estates, Arlene Heights . . .

[Oldtimer]

Not that I have the time, but I thought it would be cool to drive a trailer over and pick up all the wood debris, bring it home and use it to build recycled yard furniture. I could name each collection after the storm that brought it in.

I know you made the comment in jest, but that's just what my family did after Opal. My dad and other family members gathered good lumber that washed up in the marshes all around Western Lake and used it to rebuild out dock, doing the work themselves. Some nice trusses even washed up. Our dock was one of the only ones to survive Ivan with no damage at all. Knock on wood!

[Smiling JOe]

I know you made the comment in jest, but that's just what my family did after Opal. My dad and other family members gathered good lumber that washed up in the marshes all around Western Lake and used it to rebuild out dock, doing the work themselves. Some nice trusses even washed up. Our dock was one of the only ones to survive Ivan with no damage at all. Knock on wood!

No, I was down right serious. The creative side in me says do it. I would probably not build more than I would use myself, but there is enough good materials out there to make some cool stuff for many people.

[kurt]

I'll bring a couple of hammers. Anyone have a cordless saw?
Let's build a REAL SoWal lounge. Arlene's Reggae Shack.

[Smiling JOe]

I'll bring a couple of hammers. Anyone have a cordless saw?
Let's build a REAL SoWal lounge. Arlene's Reggae Shack.

I may have just talked myself into the new Front Lawn Arlene Collection '05.

[kurt]

Yeah we can build a shack on the beach AND furnish it.

[Landlocked]

I think that is how the FloraBama was built. Something drifts up on the beach, and they just nail it to the side of the building. Whatever works!

[kurt]

From TDC:

Debris removal from Tropical Arlene is underway and will continue over
the next 2-3 weeks. Debris pick-up will stop on weekends and during the
extended Fourth of July weekend (July 1-4).

The TDC staff has consolidated debris to accelerate the removal process.
The contractor attempted to begin removal in the west end of the County
on Monday, but due to the large crowds the crew was forced to move to
the east end for the safety of our visitors. Removal is now underway and
will continue west. The removal crew will be using heavy off road
equipment including dump trucks and front end loaders to clean the
beaches as quickly as possible.

[Landlocked]

"The contractor attempted to begin removal in the west end of the County"

Yeah, they started with the removal of my fishing stuff last week. :laughing1

[lollygal]

Not funny about your theft, but glad you can enjoy the moment!

[lollygal]

I think that is how the FloraBama was built. Something drifts up on the beach, and they just nail it to the side of the building. Whatever works!

Hey, is the Florabama back??? Or did Ivan wash it away for good --

[cassie]

Wow, I didn't realize that Arlene did that much damage in the area. I also noticed all the crap on the beach this past weekend. Hopefully they get it out of there soon, it's starting to look like some of our local trailer parks.

; (

[aquaticbiology]

Not that I have the time, but I thought it would be cool to drive a trailer over and pick up all the wood debris, bring it home and use it to build recycled yard furniture. I could name each collection after the storm that brought it in.[/QUOTE]

we bringing back about 25 10 ft lg 2 x 6 from a huge pile near beacon hill - no nails in them either - not just walton county got troubles

[BeachDreamer]

we bringing back about 25 10 ft lg 2 x 6 from a huge pile near beacon hill - no nails in them either - not just walton county got troubles

Amazing. Does the wood legally belong to anyone? I can't believe more people haven't done this. Those 2 x 6 s are expensive!! Twenty-five of them are worth a small fortune.

[Smiling JOe]

Amazing. Does the wood legally belong to anyone? I can't believe more people haven't done this. Those 2 x 6 s are expensive!! Twenty-five of them are worth a small fortune.

Good question. If we could identify the owners, maybe we could make them, or their insurance company, come clean their poop.

[kurt]

If you personal property after a storm it's like other lost and found. You report it to the SO and if no one claims it after a certain amount of time it's yours.

Wood would be hard to identify and I don't think anyone cares.

[kurt]

Good question. If we could identify the owners, maybe we could make them, or their insurance company, come clean their poop.

Good point - maybe WaterColor and Seaside should be cleaning up Grayton Beach State Park.

[BeachDreamer]

If you personal property after a storm it's like other lost and found. You report it to the SO and if no one claims it after a certain amount of time it's yours.

Wood would be hard to identify and I don't think anyone cares.

True. I suppose insurance covers their loss so it's not really any big deal. It's too bad tornados don't leave intact 2 x 6 s laying around over here... we are in the planning stages (aka saving up the money) of our deck building right now.

[Kathryn]

We put up 14 brand new sand fences just before turtle season. Saw one of Kurt's pixs of our home and they are ALL GONE. If you find it, I'll come get it!
(thankfully our home is still there and I think the fences did help a little)

Our insurance does not cover a lot of things including sand fencing even though it is a protective measure. Now let's see... $$$$ per fence x 14 fences divided by 30 days equals about $50 a day we paid for the fencing... OUCH ......


.

[Smiling JOe]

We put up 14 brand new sand fences just before turtle season. Saw one of Kurt's pixs of our home and they are ALL GONE. If you find it, I'll come get it!
(thankfully our home is still there and I think the fences did help a little)

Our insurance does not cover a lot of things including sand fencing even though it is a protective measure. Now let's see... $$$$ per fence x 14 fences divided by 30 days equals about $50 a day we paid for the fencing... OUCH ......


.

Do you recognize any of your sand fence? There are bit and pieces out here. Come and get them if you want to. :) I don't think they have any fishing gear stuck in them, so they should be here for a while.

[Kathryn]

Hey, wait a minute.... that piece of wood over on the left looks familar.

Guess we'll have to wait until October to put it all back up. Hope Hurricane Ophelia doesn't hit before then.

[FoX]

I am officially disgusted by the inadequacies of our governement. There is still debris everywhere and I have seen no evidence of any clean up. Grayton is pitiful. All those nice piles of debris that volunteers gathered up for the county to pick up have mostly been spread out again. How do you let all that stuff sit for weeks and not pick it up before the biggest holiday weekend of the year? Who has my tax money in their pocket?

There's a big volunteer cleanup on July 5th. Are we supposed to gather all that stuff up again and hope the county picks it up before it gets scattered, covered, or washed away?

AND - I feel like scolding parents that are letting kids pull lumber and trash out of the piles and play with it, a lot of it pressure treated with poisonous chemicals, sharp broken pieces, and some with nails and screws sticking out.

Groups of unsupervised kids are making forts out of the stuff and it's scattered everywhere. They're digging huge holes and covering them with plywood and other lumber. This is a recipe for disaster. I've heard of kids in FLA dying in these tunnel forts when the sand collapses.

And it's not just kids. I saw one idiot in his 20s dig a hole on the side of the lake today that must have been 6' X 8' by about 4 feet deep and then collect plywood and other crap to make a shelter. Not only did he make a big mess but I don't doubt he'll leave it there for some other persons' kid to get injured or killed.

Maybe the county is too busy conducting anti-shark PR (please don't be scared come spend your money it was just a fluke). How would it be if some 6-year old got smothered or crushed? I wonder if that would make CNN?

If you have concern:

Brad Pickel - TDC, bpickel@beachesofsouthwalton.com

Beach Activities Coordinator - Ken Wilde, wilken@co.walton.fl.us
County Commissioners:

• Dist. 1 -Scott Brannon, (850) 622-3081, brascott@co.walton.fl.us

• Dist. 2 - Kenneth Pridgen, (850) 834-6328, prikenneth@co.walton.fl.us

• Dist. 3 - Larry Jones (850) 892-8474, jonlarry@co.walton.fl.us

• Dist. 4 - Ro Cuchens, (850) 835-4834 cucro@co.walton.fl.us

• Dist. 5 - Cindy Meadows, (850) 622-3059 meacindy@co.walton.fl.us

[SoWalSally]

Fox I agree that things are a mess and dangerous. It's sad that some accident will have to happen before action is taken.

I thought this letter to the Walton Sun was also relevant:


Sad beaches
Our beaches are now in such a sad state due to Arlene’s visit. Yet, I had high hopes that recovery and rebuilding would be better than last year.
After Ivan, many Gulf front property owners built humongous walkovers, far larger than what they had prior to the hurricane. Many appeared to have been built without permits.
In any event, these replacement steps/ walkovers consisted of very long landings, some as long as 12 feet, some with landings more like decks — storage units and benches, and showers.
Before Arlene, we suffered a lot of erosion of the beach. At high tide, these very long, beachinvasive structures effectively prevented anyone’s walking on the beach as the tide went way up under these steps and long landings. This not only stopped pedestrian traffic, but also would have blocked any emergency vehicle that might have needed to get by.
And then came Arlene and the end for many of these humongous walkovers. Letters and calls to the Department of Environmental Protection begged for only simple, straight steps to now be built as replacement.
Alas, can you imagine my disappointment upon watching a humongous set of steps/walkover start to be rebuilt — and rebuilt illegally. No permit had been issued for this construction.
You would think that Walton County and DEP would have learned about illegal rebuilding and oversize walkovers after Ivan and would permit only simple walkovers for any future rebuilding.
Martha Heller
Blue Mountain Beach

[SoWalSally]

Maybe Walton County is only worried about getting clean when the blue flags are being awarded. Kind of like the restaurant that cleans up when they know the health inspector's coming:

Walton County Beaches listed as clean

The Clean Beaches Council on June 24 released its 2005 list of beaches that have been officially certified as clean, healthy and environmentally well managed.
According to a May 2005 Travel Industry Association of America survey, Americans will travel in record numbers this summer, a 2.3 percent increase from last year. More than 328 million trips are predicted for this season with 75 percent of respondents listing a trip to a beach or lake as one of their three top summer destinations.
Now in its seventh year, the non-profit Clean Beaches Council runs the most comprehensive, national environmental and public safety beach certification program in the country. For the public, the program provides a ‘good housekeeping’ stamp of approval for beaches, giving visitors an enjoyable vacation and peace of mind. For beach communities, it is an ‘eco-label’ which means the beach has met a set of rigorous health and safety standards and is managed to protect the natural environment.
To be certified, applicants must meet the program’s criteria for water quality, beach and intertidal conditions, safety, services, habitat conservation, erosion management, public information and education. Beaches that meet these criteria receive the Blue Wave flag, the symbol of the program, which is prominently displayed beachside.
For more information: www.cleanbeaches.org/bluewave/bluewave.cfm

[kurt]

[Landlocked]

Kids always seem to make the best of situations like that.

[FoX]

Kids always seem to make the best of situations like that.

Looks to me like they've made the WORST out of it.

[Landlocked]

I thought they were just digging around it. Who knows

[FoX]

I thought they were just digging around it. Who knows

See my post above.

Debris with nails sticking out has been dragged all over the place. From areas where it was placed or washed out of the way (and should have been picked up by now), to right in the middle of where kids of all ages play, including infants and toddlers.

What kind of parents allow their kids to do this? Or dig 5 foot deep holes and walk away?

[Landlocked]

I've still got a four inch gash in my foot from two weeks ago. I raked it across a board with a framing nail sticking out of it. Nice.

[cassie]

Hope you're up to date with your Tetanus shots ; )

OUCH!

[Landlocked]

I always tell the doc that I've had one recently, but I can't remember when it was. Guess its time.

[kathydwells]

See my post above.

Debris with nails sticking out has been dragged all over the place. From areas where it was placed or washed out of the way (and should have been picked up by now), to right in the middle of where kids of all ages play, including infants and toddlers.

What kind of parents allow their kids to do this? Or dig 5 foot deep holes and walk away?

I know what you mean about the big holes. When we were down last week a friend of mine fell in one and almost broke her leg. The kids that were down with us on our group, dug a big whole, but then before we left the beach, for the day they had to fill it in. They are very dangerous!!!