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I am one member of a five person board. The opinions I express on this forum are mine only, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Escambia County Staff, Administrators, Employees, or anyone else associated with Escambia County Florida. I am interested in establishing this blog as a means of additional transparency to the public, outreach to the community, and information dissemination to all who choose to look. Feedback is welcome, but because public participation is equally encouraged, appropriate language and decorum is mandatory. Although this is not my campaign site for re-election--sometimes campaign related information will be discussed, therefore in an abundance of caution I add the following :








Friday, October 22, 2021

Interesting Redistricting Proposal for D1 and D2 Boundaries Comes from District 2.....

This map was presented at a recent workshop by District 2 School Board member Paul Fetsko.  It is an interesting proposal.  While I think it needs a few revisions and I'll bring these ideas on November 2nd---if he is set on it I could live with it.  It appears D1 School Board member Kevin Adams could support this as well. 

Eight days ago, a workshop was held at the School District offices on Texar Drive.

There were multiple presentations and issues to be discussed.

Toward the end of the meeting, the board discussed the redistricting process and specifically what the District 2 Board Member thought would be some good boundaries for the new District 2 School Board District.

Upon seeing what he proposed---I am in general agreement.  I could certainly live with what Paul has put forward for the reasons he quite eloquently enunciated in the meeting (2:14 minute of this video) and listening to his rationale--his plan is #3 of the ones Chariman Slayton mentions leading into the item with Bender's idea being #1, Bergosh/Adams plan being #2----------- It would be hard for anyone to believe politics played any role whatsoever in the way he has imagined the lines going forward for the next ten years.

I will work with Paul toward making a few modifications/tweaks if he will countenance it--as I believe Sorrento/Bauer/Gulf Beach highway east of what he's proposed needs to stay in D2--and seveal census blocks he has in his northern part of his proposal should revert back to D1.  But I think somewhere between what he's proposed and what I proposed on Oct. 5th will be the eventual final.  That's my sense of it.  My proposed compromise between what we proposed at the  Oct. 5th meeting and what Paul Fetsko proposed on October 14th at the school board workshop, is below.


 

Now--the school board absolutely has the ability to create their own lines independently of the County Commissioners.  And vice versa.

But to do this puts an inordinate amount of work on the Supervisor of Elections staff and creates significant voter confusion.  It is for this reason that one of my firm stands will be that the D1 County Commission lines, at least and wherever they end up, will mirror the D1 School Board lines.  I believe my counterpart on the School Board, Kevin Adams, believes this to be true as well.  What other districts do will obviously be up to these individual office holders.

We'll see what happens November 2nd.


(And for everyone's full disclosure--I've stated from the start that I did not favor rushing this process, which is now precisely what we're doing. From day 1 I stated we should wait until 2023 and do it right because of COVID-19 and all the resultant data delays, etc.  But everyone wants to rush it, so here we are..........)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The commissioner who is elected to govern Perdido Key, either now or in the future needs to take down the No Trespassing signs on the beach.

Have staff go back to the FEMA grant POST IVAN. Federal Money was granted for the Emergency Berms and the paperwork there clearly says the grant is given as a public purpose because there are four.. READ it. Four Public Beach ACCESSES there. A follow up restoration IN ADDITION TO THOSE FIRST BERMS WAS TO BE DONE TO PROTECT THAT FEDERAL MONEY investment on the Key.

I hope this redistricting passes and pronto you The Honerable Commissioner Bergosh make this happen with no need for a lawsuit.

It's right there in black and white, if you will only look.

I hope you get all the votes you need to make this redistricting happen because the last few years have put the board in peril and I think you all know it.

It really should not be worth mentioning but the hate clan liars that tried to protect opening this Beach access number four for their own corrupt uses are known. That song sung at the county is on video -- and it has fallen flat.

Anonymous said...

When Commissioner May applauded when Underhill said he was leaving the board, as most everyone else agrees, what did Doug mean about Beach ACCESS? He blurted that out.

He is the one that put those no trespassing signs up and tried to block opening the Beach ACCESS number four.

I think he might mean he wants the county to buy more Beach Front Property.
Well he blew that a few years ago. Is he suddenly going to want to use his discretionary for that again, (after he said he wouldn't back in 2018) instead of fund the project at Beach Haven?

Wait for it.

Blah blah blah blah.. PKMP..Someone must be yanking his chain. PKMP

It must be hard to be so comflicted and still try to impress his hate chat clan zombies CLOWNS. < (That's for Qman".

It sure is hard for him to keep his stories straight.

One he says, "We have to have infrastructure" then he doesn't want to finish the project on infrastructure.

Anonymous said...

https://floridadep.gov/sites/default/files/PanhandleGulfCoastRegionSBMP.pdf

In 1995, Hurricane Opal caused extensive erosion throughout northwest Florida. Using federal and state

disaster funds, a program of assisted recovery of the beach and dune system was conducted where
upland developed property was left vulnerable to storms. Sand was trucked from upland borrow sites,
placed in an alongshore berm configuration, and stabilized with wood slat sand fence and plantings of
sea oats. However, the beach and dunes had not fully recovered when Hurricane Georges impacted the
area in 1998, causing additional damage that required a second phase of assisted recovery of the most
eroded developed areas.
In 2004, Hurricane Ivan caused extensive erosion throughout northwest Florida. In Escambia County,
this erosion was even more severe than that caused by Opal. In 2005, Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, and
Rita exacerbated erosion conditions throughout northwest Florida. As is described below, recovery
efforts similar to those implemented after Opal have been completed.
STRATEGIES FOR INLETS AND CRITICALLY ERODED BEACHES
PERDIDO KEY, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, R1-R34
This is a 6.5 mile segment of critically eroded beach on Perdido Key. Assisted recovery of the beach
and dune system was conducted following Hurricanes Opal, Georges, Ivan, and Dennis. Following the
effects of the 2004 hurricane season, emergency protective berms were constructed using funds from
June 2015, Page 1 of 59
Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Strategic Beach Management Plan – Panhandle Gulf Coast Region
FEMA. A dune restoration project to supplement these emergency protective berms with additional
sand and vegetation was performed in 2005-2006. A feasibility study to determine the appropriate
beach management strategy for this area was initiated in 2005 and completed in 2006, along with a sand
search study. The feasibility study recommended beach restoration. The Perdido Key Beach - Dune
Restoration Project proposes to place approximately 1.25 million cubic yards (mcy) of beach quality
material in three different segments from an offshore borrow site and is expected to begin construction
in 2015/2016. The first segment is 2.4 miles long (R1-R12.5) and will construct a dune restoration
project with vegetation that will provide critical habitat for the Perdido Key beach mouse. The second
segment is 1.1 mile long (R12.5-R19) and will construct a protective berm with in the Perdido Key State
Park. The third segment is three miles long (R19-R34) and will construct both a beach and dune
restoration project. As a separate component, the Perdido Key Dune Restoration Project is listed as an
early restoration project in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Programmatic and Phase III Early
Restoration Plan and Early Restoration Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and was selected
by the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustees for implementation.
The Perdido Key Dune Restoration project will restore dune vegetation to approximately 20 acres ,,,,

Anonymous said...

agenda.myescambia.com/docs/2011/REGBCC/20110707_289/999_Perdido Key Escambia Co LGFR 12_13 18Jul11.pdf

Project Name: Perdido Key, FL, Beach Restoration Project

Project Description: The Perdido Key, FL, Beach Restoration Project proposes to place up to 1.25
million cubic yards (Mcy – pay volume) of beach quality material along three separate segments of the
westernmost 6.5 miles of Gulf of Mexico shoreline at Perdido Key in Escambia County, FL. Beach
nourishment and dune restoration is proposed for the 3.0-mile beach segment between FDEP monuments
R-19 and R-34 (tapering onto Perdido Key State Park on the west end and onto the Gulf Islands National
Seashore on the east end), totaling approximately 1.05 million cubic yards of sand. Protective berm
construction is proposed from R-12.5 to R-19 along the shoreline of Perdido Key State Park, totaling
approximately 50,000 cy. Comprehensive dune restoration is proposed for the 2.4-mile beach segment
from R-01 to R-12.5, totaling approximately 150,000 cubic yards of sand. The dune features proposed for

construction along the eastern and western segments will be enhanced with salt-tolerant vegetation and
sand-fencing. The beach fill material will be excavated from an 84-acre offshore borrow site located
approximately 1.1 to 1.8 miles offshore of Perdido Key near R-10 to R-11. Up to 1.8 Mcy of material
may ultimately be excavated from the borrow site to achieve the 1.25 Mcy design fill template (pay
volume). The sand for berm construction and for dune restoration shall be pumped ashore into as many
as three separate stockpile areas, between R-19 and R-21.5, between R-11 to R-13, and between R-8.5
and R-10.5. Sand in the stockpiles will subsequently be trucked to construct the berm and dune features.

Following the severe storm impacts of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, Escambia County, FL,
initiated a feasibility study for restoration of the beaches of Perdido Key, FL. The feasibility study
addressed the short- and long-term shoreline and sand volume change trends in the project area, described
the littoral forcing mechanisms in the region -- including storm impacts, reviewed potential
environmental/permitting issues, and analyzed the available alternatives for beach management for
Perdido Key, FL (OAI, 2006). The study recommended construction of a full–scale beach nourishment

project supplied from a remote sand source to address sand deficits caused by the impacts of recent
storms since 1998 (Hurricanes Georges, Ivan, Katrina, et al.). An offshore geotechnical sand search was
conducted in 2005 to develop a borrow site for the project. As a result of the impacts from Hurricane

Ivan, and the subsequent impacts of the smaller storms Arlene, Dennis, and Katrina (all in 2005), the
entire shoreline segment from R-1 to R-32 is designated by FDEP BBCS as a Critically Eroded shoreline.

In the last three years, the project shoreline was impacted by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike (September
2008) and Tropical Storm Ida (November 2009). MHW shoreline changes from 2007 to 2010 reveal a

great deal of variability but general indicate a net advance of roughly 25 ft from R-1 to R-12, a net retreat
of -17 ft from R-13 to R-21, and a net retreat of -5 ft from R-22 to R-31.



Anonymous said...

"Provide planning, analysis, design, monitoring, and measurement of coastal processes, coastal structures, and coastal
habitats, and consultation and advice as required on coastal engineering issues of concern. Following Hurricane Ivan,
the first task was to design, permit, and manage construction of a FEMA-funded emergency protective berm on
Perdido Key. Mr. McGehee managed the project and conducted a re-analysis of the storm surge return period "

http://submittals.myescambia.com/forms/PD%2002-03.79/202865475.Escambia.330.PDF

As soon as this Redistricting is voted on, and this passes, please take the No Trespassing signs down at the access points. These beaches were restored with federal fund and other public dollars.

Of course get the research done by staff first.

It's all over the internet plus it should be in Escambia's information.

Anonymous said...

https://doczz.net/doc/60511/perdido-key--florida-feasibility-study-for-beach-restoration

This is from 2006, and with Perdido Key Drive now a county road, in my opinion it would behoove you to know if in fact that beach there is no longer in a critically eroded state from past storms. FDRP does that analysis.

From what I can tell the FEMA berms were put in but the subsequent restoration was done is a con man type of way trying to pretend the beach is private and the public funds were not used to restore it. They were.

Perhaps with this new map you as well as the rest of the county can implement policy that is not corrupt and self serving as it seems to have been in the last few years under current D2 commissioner,

I hope it passes without a hitch.

Jeff Bergosh said...

Anonymous 10:20, 10:24, 10:38, and 11:46---thanks for your information. I'm not one that will ever count my chickens before they hatch--but I do feel like odds are better than 50-50 that the new D1 will include perdido, innerarity, and perdido key----as it should----to counter the political gerrymandering that happened in 2001 when these areas were ripped out of D1. So yes, if that happens, you can bet your bottom dollar I will look into these issues which have been swirling around for several years. Remember who was the staunch advocate for opening Beach Access #4? And who was it that recounts often growing up fishing those beaches from FloraBama to Johnson's Beach with his late father? One guess---it's pretty obvious. So what do you think will happen if the lines change and perdido key is back in D1? Exactly :)

Anonymous said...

Yes sir, I remember and thank you.

Also I'm sad but not surprised to see you counterpart will still continue the bad behavior online even though you asked him doesn't he know how to get support and votes for his projects.

He is a basket case on that and will just double down rather than try to correct his actions.

Melissa Pino said...

Thank you so much to the anonymous poster above advocating for public access on the Key and laying out that Inlet Management Plan. Great stuff.

Anonymous said...

I hope your map plan passes tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Watching the meeting.
Fetsko must have had a talking to by Underhill prior to this so he went on and on. .
Underhill tried to use the Gerrymander propaganda term. He was unprepared as usual. Saying one thing and meaning another.
Vice chairman won't let it fly.

If only the board could cancel ECW like PNJ.

They let some post go through calling Underhill Underwood and another reportee on 850 saying he finds it too cumbersome to watch the meetings. --Right.. eyeroll.

One can tell you have done your homework.

Large and in charge. 6:00 PM.