County Commissioner Meeting Tuesday, April 11th at the South Walton Courthouse Annex. 4 PM. Should a private seawall illegally installed on a public beach be permitted to remain on public property? This issue is a test of this County Commission's oath to be custodians of the public property. Also note: One of the commissioners, Ro Cuchens, owns the company that installed the illegal wall. The slogan of residents that want the seawall removed is: ?Mr. Cuchens, tear down that wall?. :clap_1: Below is an excerpt from the South Walton Community council position. [url]http://www.southwaltoncc.org/[/url] "Seawalls are intended to protect vulnerable upland structures. They do not protect the beach. .....documents published by both U.S. Fish & Wildlife and the DEP indicate that coastal armoring ?can result in accelerated erosion seaward of the hardened structure and adjacent to the structure, especially on the downdrift side (end scour)? It is unfortunate that neither the engineer nor the contractor *verified the gulf front property line of these lots before constructing the walls. To build the walls without updating the affected property line was a business risk that they chose to take. The result was that they built their walls anywhere from 28? to 40? onto their neighbor?s property. *The neighbor happens to be the public.... Aside from the property rights issue of a private landowner encroaching onto public land, state law requires that ?armoring shall be sited a sufficient distance inside the property boundaries to prevent destabilizing the beach and dune system on adjacent properties or increasing erosion of such properties during a storm event.? We do not see how the county can authorize these walls to remain on public property." Please call the commissioners to voice your opinion. If possible come to the meeting--it should be very interesting. I hope someone will be selling popcorn at the door. :popcorn: Commissioner Brannon 19367 U.S. Hwy 331 S Freeport, FL 32439 Tel: (850) 835-4860 Fax: (850) 835-4836 E-mail:* [email]brascott@co.walton.fl.us[/email] *Commissioner Pridgen Address: 17400 State Highway 83 North DeFuniak Springs, FL 32433 Phone: (850) 834-6328 Fax: (850) 834-6385 Email: [email]prikenneth@co.walton.fl.us[/email] Commissioner Larry Jones ** Contact Information Donna Walsinkham, District 3*Executive Assistant 1483 County Highway 1087 DeFuniak Springs, FL. 32435 Phone: (850) 892-8474 Fax: (850)892-8475 e-mail: [email]jonlarry@co.walton.fl.us[/email] Contact Information Commissioner Cuchens can be reached at (850) 835-4834. His office is located at 417 Highway 20 East in Freeport. Email: [email]cucro@co.walton.fl.us[/email] Commissioner Cindy Meadows 90 Spires Lane, Unit 7-A Santa Rosa Beach, FL. 32459 Phone: (850) 622-3059 Fax: (850) 622-3067 e-mail:* [email]meacindy@co.walton.fl.us[/email]
