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| I am told this photograph that was forwarded to me by citizen Michael McCormack was taken at Perdido Key post Hurricane Ivan when a large project was undertaken to renourish the dunes. |
Escambia County citizen and Perdido Key public beach access champion Michael McCormack has sent me a trove of additional documents and files on his research of the issues of public access of Perdido Key's beaches. I am going to link them all here in this post. In his emails to me, he sends lots of different files, .pdf's and powerpoints. In one of his emails, he asks the following interesting and compelling question:
"Jeff, I also question whether the so called “dune restoration” was not renourishment in fact. Look at the pictures in this report after Ivan, there was not a dune in sight and looks like wet sand all the way to the destroyed buildings. So how is that not renourishment when sand is dredged from the Intracoastal Canal by the ACOE, trucked to the beach then spread out in order to build a sandy beach portion back for the property owners up and down the entire Perdido Key beach line?"
I've spoken to staff on this and have been told that the renourishment was simply a dune restoration. But if the whole beach was washed out after the storm and all the new sand reclaimed what was once there and re-established the beach--what is that called?
Check out all of his documents here. It might be that these generate additional comments, questions, and concerns?
7 comments:
I'm not understanding the significance of the sand. Does it help prove the beaches were deeded with public access? Does this indicate county staff knew yet never spoke up? Were federal dollars knowingly spent on private property?
2:15--If public dollars are utilized to renourish a beach, that beach becomes availabe for public use after such renourishment happens. Thus, the definition of what constitutes a beach "renourishement" becomes critically important. For instance, the beaches at Pensacola Beach have been renourished multiple times with public funds.
Coastal and waterfront property owners depend on the rest of us to fund their insurance funds. They depended on the government to renourish their beach after storms. The whole dang beach should be public! Open it all up!
Let’s make Perdido the best beach in Florida. These condos should all be contributing ADDITIONAL tax dollars to fund improvements in beach patrols, cleanup and even code enforcement. If increased access comes with improved management, we can turn this in to a win / win.
If the most wealthy still want exclusivity, then go buy an island! Perdido Key was never meant to be yours alone, these beaches were always intended to provide access for everyone in this community.
IT IS SUCH A RELIEF to see these documents get a wider audience--thank you Commissioner Bergosh! Michael McCormack has been the repository of this stuff for years...I've probably bugged him a dozen times for the same files I've lost track of time and again. Finally, finally there is a public place where people can send stuff that is *real* evidence of what has been going on down there, and it will be noticed and addressed. Yeah!!!! And yeah for unanimous sign ordinance last night!!
REASONABLE NON-KNOB POLISHING NON-NIMBYS: Oh my God, those signs are *horrible*--how on earth did that happen???
US: Doug.
ECW DOUGGITE KNOB-POLISHING NIMBY FLYING MONKEYS: #UDS IS REAL!!!!! Doug isn't the one!!! Those owners have a right!!!!
Can it be any more clear than in the below email? Maybe now people will actually ABSORB just a touch of reality on the ruination that whack job Beelzebub left in his wake (BTW, note the time stamp on his email--up crawling the walls in the wee hours, his feverish brain melting down at the thought of those seven families from Alabama enjoying that public beach):
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On May 17,2016, at 2:58 AM, Doug Underhill wrote:
Jack,
The perennial problem of trespassing on private property on Perdido Key is showing its head again. Happens this time every year. Angst escalates as property owners and visitors each quote their rights, often incorrectly. I believe the resolution of this conflict is the responsibility of the County. Would it not be a simple matter to place pvc pipe signs in
the sand at the southern property line, stating "Public Property" with an arrow pointing south and "Private Property" pointing north? Of course, these would need to be anchored in 5 gallon buckets of concrete, dug down into the sand far enough to discourage theft, and the condo owners would need to be co-opted into helping to educate the beach goers.
Respectfully,
D2
Sent from my iPad
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How many of the PKA phonies were squealing with delight at their master daddy "co-opting" (that's one word for it) them to do their dirty beach-stealing business together? Oh, but thanks for summoning Crypt Master Krupnick, Doug, who remains blissfully unaware that nobody cares what he or the PKA have to say about their superiority any more, now that your sorry, special interest, empty chair puppet butt is out the door.
Also contained in that email string is another source of the problem: Jack Brown's appeasement, which is what really allowed Doug to destroy every corner of the County his sick brain fastened on, whether it was Perdido Beaches or Public Safety. Motto? Looking out for number one, while that County Administrator salary just went up and up and up during his high five.
But...last night was such a balm. Just imagine, the signs will be coming off Perdido at the same time this toxic shell dump will be getting cleared off Navy Point beaches. I love that timing so much. :) Glorious! And thank you a thousand times over for spearheading both efforts to restore safe and enjoyable public access, Commissioner Bergosh. I have a feeling there are a bunch of summer wins stacking up...
Commissioner, thank you to you and the Board for the vote on the ordinance. It will be a good beginning to restoring the natural beauty of The Key!
I also question whether the effort exerted after Ivan to restore the dunes is not indeed nourishment of the beaches. If so then the 30 million dollars of taxpayer money spent on said project should open up all of Perdido Key to the Alabama State line. The pictures I collected from Google Earth shows that work being done all the way to the Flora-Bama. That would include the Coolidge Grant property as well.
"Beach nourishment is the adding of sediment onto or directly adjacent to an eroding beach. This "soft structural" response allows sand to shift and move with waves and currents. Dune restoration is commonly carried out during a beach nourishment project as well."
The above quote is directly from The Army Corps of Engineers website concerning beach nourishment:
https://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/Missions/Coasts/Tales-of-the-Coast/Corps-and-the-Coast/Shore-Protection/Beach-Nourishment/
That pretty much describes to a T what took place after Ivan in 2004-2005. Nourishment not only means dumping sand in the water to reclaim beachfront, but dune restoration and berms to protect inland infrastructure, ie Homes and roadways. This will be a critical factor from here on out to Escambia County and its' taxpayers since we took over ownership of Perdido Key Drive. We will be the ones paying for it to be rebuilt. If we did not nourish the beach with the dune restoration and emergency berm then all of the property owners on the Gulf front would probably have had to demolish their structures or have them destroyed by the next big hurricane to hit that island.
I wonder if they will reject that option WHEN that happens, and it will, it's only a matter of time. How greedy does one have to be in order to claim a private beach when living in a high rise condominium? I mean, you share that finite footprint with so many other residents, what's a few more locals going to deprive you of? For God sake, get over yourself already. Most of these people are transplants from other States and don't understand our customary use of the beaches for recreation and food gathering. It's high time we teach them to be a little more gracious and generous. Some get it, some don't, some will and some won't..... SAD. But, the sign ordinance is a gigantic first step in educating those that don't what their responsibilities are in maintaining the natural beauty of our sacred shoreline. I encourage you to delve into the question on beach nourishment as happened after Ivan. I think it should be put to FEMA and the Corps of Engineers for a definitive answer and let the chips fall as the may.
Thanks again for leading the effort to correct the wrongs that have been perpetrated out there and for your stewardship in protecting our interests.
^^^THIS!!!! Michael McCormack...YES!!^^^
Commissioner Bergosh, have you asked for legal opinion on what actually constitutes re/nourishment? (Technically just nourishment the first time around.) Perhaps staff is simply mistaken?
Not only did they pile the dredged sand all along the beach, paid for with taxpayer money,but they RAKED it. *How* is that not nourishment?
Keep in mind that this all happened while the Key was technically still under evacuation.
Well said, Michael!
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