County
Commissioners have agreed to seek funding to buy 7 lots at Alligator Point because
the road leading to the properties is washing away and can likely not be fixed
on a permanent basis.
The lots are adjacent to Bald
Point State Park along Gulf Shore Blvd, a major section of which washed out
during Hurricane Debby in 2012.
The road has never been
permanently repaired because the county has been working with FEMA to relocate
the road landward.
The county did build a temporary
road while the permanent relocation project worked its way through FEMA
approval.
However, in December a small
storm event washed out some 250 additional feet of asphalt road west of the
section washed out by Hurricane Debby.
FEMA funds cannot be used to repair
the new washout as it did not happen during a declared storm event.
County Director of Administrative
Services Alan Pierce said The new washout is compelling evidence that the Gulf
Shore Blvd area is a critically eroding shoreline, and the only permanent
solution is to seek state and federal support to buy out these 7 property
owners as these 7 lots are entirely surrounded by Bald Point State Park.
In November, the voters of the
state approved funding for a new land acquisition program so the county has
agreed to contact the Department of environmental Protection to see if the 7
lots can be purchased through that program.
They are also investigating what federal
funds might be available, including converting the funds dedicated to
constructing a new road.
Normally construction funds cannot
be converted to acquisition funds but the state reps are going to talk to FEMA
as they were concerned about how vulnerable the remaining part of Gulf Shore
Blvd is.
In the meantime, the county has
agreed to spend up to $10,000 out of the Bald Point Trust fund to build a temporary
limerock road landward of the washout to provide access to the 7 lots.
Mister Pierce said it will take
some time to resolve the problem.
http://live.oysterradio.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment