From Walton Sun
Environmental issues may slow the Walton County and Destin joint beach renourishment project.
Originally slated for completion by Memorial Day weekend, Grants and Project Manager for the City of Destin Lindey Chabot said contractors are now estimating public beaches completion by June 1 and the entire project by July.
?We?re going according to the contractor?s conservative estimates,? Chabot said.
Initially, contractors were going to be on the beach by January. According to Chabot, the timeline has been pushed back to February.
In addition, the Walton- Destin project will have to coordinate with an Army Corps of Engineer?s upcoming project. Due to sand blocking the pathway of larger vessels, Congress asked the Corps to clear East Pass. The Corps is executing its project around the same time as the renourishment project.
According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Service mandates, dredging for both projects have to work around the Gulf sturgeon?s migratory season.
?(The project) will be slower at first because of the sturgeon,? Chabot said. ?After April, there are not as many environmental concerns.?
In addition to environmental issues, the Save Our Beaches organizations in Destin and Walton County continue to pose obstacles.
?They are still doing everything they can to stop the project,? Chabot said. ?But there is nothing so far that has stopped the program.?
Brad Pickel, director of beach management for the Walton County Tourist Development Council, said the project can be disconnected if Walton County or Destin have separate litigation problems.
?Our project can be split off from a constructabilty standpoint,? he said.
A small number of individual property owners, many who are not full-time residents, continue to lobby against the project, explained Chabot.
?There are one or two that are really pressing it. They really don?t understand the issue,? she said.
Chabot said the group?s main contention with the project is violation of their property rights.
?It?s all beyond me because it doesn?t involve private property,? she said. ?The construction is done on sovereign land.?
Pickel said the project should continue as intended.
?Our goal is to build a continuous project. All indicators show that (Destin) is going to work right there with us,? he said.