Why we should Care?

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

BMBV I have seen your educated and great responses on this issue for the past 6 months or so and commend you for your input, but this issue is one that we can not get tired of.

Thanks.

Again, I should have been speaking for myself as I stated in a previous post.

Maybe that was the intent of the County Official that built the walls in the first place, build them, hide from the fight, and wait long enough for everyone to tire out and let it die.

OK, I'm a bit confused here. Regarding walls on public property (another thread BTW) I thought they were talking about the homes on the west end of Montgomery Street with GeoTubes. The "County Official" that you refer to, doesn't install these (as far as I know). However there may be more wood walls on public property where he did. I'm not sure.

The people of this community can and will not allow this to happen.

Are you talking about building walls on public property or walls in general? I assume it's about building private walls on public beaches.

While I feel for you and other beach front owners, the fact remains all of you know what you are living on, an eroding shoreline that has a backyard that is not owned by you. The seawalls are a detriment to this area and the facts are positive to this.

This has already been discussed at length and is obviously not a simple situation. It won't be resolved here.

By the way, the "backyard" that you refer to IS legally owned by our association as is all the properties in our general area. This is in contrast to the situation on Montgomery Street. Technically and legally speaking (from what I understand and please correct me if I'm wrong), Blue Mountain Beach is private for the most part. But that's a whole different issue. I'm sure someone's hair is standing straight up on their neck right now.

Food for Thought: If the general public treats the gulf front owners located at Montgomery Street with such disdain, would it be unreasonable for other gulf front property owners who own to the waterline to treat the general public the same way when the public uses "their property"?

I'm not looking for an answer, PLEASE. Just think about it. I know this will only generate a heated debate where nobody wins. Life is about compromise (so is marriage but I'm still working on that part ).

The BCC, the State, and the Feds all should be ashamed for allowing this but the beach front owners who claim they did not know they were doing anything wrong should be the real ones ashamed.

Again I think you're referring to the Montgomery Street situation. When I first heard about this, I questioned the thread starter (a few months ago)about how far they were past their property lines. I didn't hear back. I assumed (and hoped) it was just a foot or two...an understandable mistake. But it seems to be much worse than that.

Now that I think about it, I remember making a comment on one of the old threads regarding GeoTubes (which I believe were used here). That is, the higher you have to stack the tubes, the further out on the beach one has to go with the base (pyramid effect). GeoTubes are a "feel good" solution because it's made from fabric and sand and therefore gves the appearance that it does not "intrude" upon the beach system as much as traditional sheet pile.

This might explain why they had to go so far out into the beach. Again, in my opinion, they should have gone with a sheet type of retaining wall which results in minimal disruption beyond the wall (besides possible increased erosion which is everyone's concern including mine).

This from an engineering report from PBS&J for Florida DEP (I posted this way back when)....
"Qualitative evidence confirms the company/product claim that the ProTecTube III system is not designed to protect against hurricanes and did not abate erosion caused by Hurricane Ivan. An aerial photograph from the FDEP shows a similar erosional pattern of the adjacent, un-protected beaches"

BTW, these homes have been here since the 1950s (I believe). I won't sit and judge their "survival" situation from the luxury of my comfortable office chair. I've got my own situation to deal with.

I'd take your concern for this public property issue to the following threads...
[ame="http://www.sowal.com/bb/showthread.php?t=8456"]Seawalls Built on Public Beach - SoWal Beaches Forum[/ame]
[ame="http://www.sowal.com/bb/showthread.php?t=8568"]Seawall Decision in Today's Paper - SoWal Beaches Forum[/ame]

My question to you is, Who is going to pick up all the wood with nails and other hazards that are on our beaches today? Last year it was a group of surfers that went up and down the beaches and in and out of the water picking up the objects, were any home owners doing the same?

Are you referring to some walkovers that were damaged by the storm the past week when you say "today"? I'm not sure what you're really asking here. The county did most of the cleaning last year.

Thanks to all the surfers for helping out, sincerely. Rememeber they were probably pulling out all kinds of stuff... private walkovers, retaining walls and PUBLIC walkovers. Did you happen to see any county commissioners swimming in and out picking up all that TREX used in public walkovers? ;-) By the way, does TREX float?

And, yes, I have picked up trash in front of our property. Next time, I'll bring my snorkel gear. Heck, since I heard some of the neighbors' walkovers were damaged this past week and sitting next to our property, I may have to pick up crap on my next visit!

Luckily, Aaron Lewis, of Construction and Such did a fantastic job of installing our walkover this year. All the forward posts were installed several feet down. No damage this time. He definitely earned this plug. Sorry, I digress.

 

[Bobby J]

BMVB,

You bring up alot of good points. Some I agree and some I do not. I will read over this again and respond at a later date. Surfed hard today and so tired! I was in the water at Blue Mountain from 8am to 3pm....

I sure hate to see all that construction debris out there. Yes TREX floats...

 

[Bob]

BMVB, You win the award for most words per post, but the verbosity is due to your argument being one you cannot defend.

 

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

BMVB, You win the award for most words per post, but the verbosity is due to your argument being one you cannot defend.

OK
:roll:

 

[John R]

BMBV, like Bobby, I'd like a little time to respond to your post. I'm in the middle of a move and can't give a response the time or thought it deserves. A quick note, yes, as you pointed out in a post above, there have been many threads on the subject, and it is work keeping up. It would be nice if they could be merged, or sorted into walls, dunes, and tubes categories(although tubes and dunes cross paths a lot)

jr

 

[BeachSteelers]

I guess I've been told were to go:clap_1: BMBV. Since I don't own beachfront nor sell it I guess I should thread elsewhere.

 

[Beach Bimmer]

It IS an interesting topic even for some of us not directly involved, as it speaks to learning from the past and designing better for the future along our coasts.

In short, keep up the dialogue, even if it's challenging at times, as many can benefit from the education. The good Lord ain't makin' no more beachfront in Florida...

 

[Smiling JOe]

...
Let's not cast all blame on those who happen to own gulf front property at the moment. You, being in real estate, fully understand the concept of disclosure. Yet when I bought in a few years ago, I was totally unaware of the potential erosion issue that we face today. Nobody "disclosed these truths" to me.

Many say, "That's a risk you took when you purchased." Perhaps. But I'm not asking the government to pay for my retaining wall and lost property (sand) although their hands are not clean regarding the current situation. I can only do what's within my power to protect my property after the fact.

The obvious facts do not need to be disclosed. ;-) This is no different than buying river front or mountain top property.

 

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

I guess I've been told were to go:clap_1: BMBV. Since I don't own beachfront nor sell it I guess I should thread elsewhere.

What the heck do you mean by "Since I don't own beachfront nor sell it I guess I should thread elsewhere."?

I think you misunderstood me.

Please don't leave. I thought we were having fun!;-)

First I listed the other related threads in my response to you in order to give you an indication that this subject has been discussed quite throuroughly because it appeared from your post that maybe you weren't aware of all the previous threads or posts. Many people spent much time entering their thoughts, observations, pictures, facts and prejudices. That's why I checked to see if your name appeared on the Seawalls thread... nothing more...nothing less. I guess there's no harm being repetitive if you want to reopen the debate from the beginning.

Second, regarding my suggestion to start other threads, it appeared you were throwing out all kinds of other stuff that deserved it's own thread such as "G.W." (I assume you mean our President), "N.O." and "no shortage of agents".

I'm not a bad guy - just one that that won't succomb to "popular opinion".

I took the time to genuinely respond to your "post" piece by piece.

The first line in your first post....
"I disagree about burnout on this seawall issue."

Now please show everyone you really mean this by sharing with us more than a one line reply.

 

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

It IS an interesting topic even for some of us not directly involved, as it speaks to learning from the past and designing better for the future along our coasts.

In short, keep up the dialogue, even if it's challenging at times, as many can benefit from the education. The good Lord ain't makin' no more beachfront in Florida...

I sincerely believe ALL of "us" have seen the errors of "our" ways regarding coastal development. If it were 1950 and we knew what we know now, I'm sure that things on the coast would be developed differently. But today is today and we're all dealing with past mistakes... not just here in South Walton but just about every coastline in America.

I'm not sure how much education can be derived from these threads but as I told BeachSteelers, sometimes it just feels good to share thoughts.

I remember someone telling me that I should spend more time in the "Lounge" here - more fun I guess.
But if I did....
1. I'd be spending 25 hours per day on this damn computer. Yea, I know, if I shorten my posts and I'd reduce it to 24 hours per day
2. Everyone from the lounge would flee because I'm so contrarily opinionated