The future of the TDC’s proposed Discovery Center will be discussed May 8 at 4 p.m. at the Board of County Commissioners meeting at the South Walton Courthouse Annex.
This is an open meeting, with time set aside for the commissioners to listen to public input about the proposed project.
At previous meetings, those who wish to preserve the plot of land in Point Washington State Forest spoke loudest. Their outcry has been answered by Dawn Moliterno, executive director of the TDC, who says a 1999 conservation settlement concerning the state forest does not bar the TDC from building within it.
The settlement, agreed to by county and state officials, along with private citizens, was made when Walton County was given a 420-acre parcel of the conservation land on which to build what is now the Town Center. The county, in return for the land, signed an agreement stating they would support the use of all acreage within the conservation and recreation land boundaries to remain part of the Point Washington State Forest.
The TDC looked into this when they started eyeing the parcel at the intersection of U.S. 98 and 331.
“We immediately sought advice from our legal counsel,” said Moliterno. Of the three attorneys asked, “All three said that it did not have any impact to that particular parcel. That particular parcel was not in the settlement.”
But some critics dispute that.
“Even if, as the county now asserts, it is not legally binding, an assertion I dispute, it is nonetheless a moral commitment made by the commissioners recognizing the conservation goal of the Point Washington State Forest,” said Anita Page with the South Walton Community Council. “Commitments made by commissioners, regardless of whether they are legally binding, should be honored. Otherwise, trust in government is imperiled.”
This is an open meeting, with time set aside for the commissioners to listen to public input about the proposed project.
At previous meetings, those who wish to preserve the plot of land in Point Washington State Forest spoke loudest. Their outcry has been answered by Dawn Moliterno, executive director of the TDC, who says a 1999 conservation settlement concerning the state forest does not bar the TDC from building within it.
The settlement, agreed to by county and state officials, along with private citizens, was made when Walton County was given a 420-acre parcel of the conservation land on which to build what is now the Town Center. The county, in return for the land, signed an agreement stating they would support the use of all acreage within the conservation and recreation land boundaries to remain part of the Point Washington State Forest.
The TDC looked into this when they started eyeing the parcel at the intersection of U.S. 98 and 331.
“We immediately sought advice from our legal counsel,” said Moliterno. Of the three attorneys asked, “All three said that it did not have any impact to that particular parcel. That particular parcel was not in the settlement.”
But some critics dispute that.
“Even if, as the county now asserts, it is not legally binding, an assertion I dispute, it is nonetheless a moral commitment made by the commissioners recognizing the conservation goal of the Point Washington State Forest,” said Anita Page with the South Walton Community Council. “Commitments made by commissioners, regardless of whether they are legally binding, should be honored. Otherwise, trust in government is imperiled.”