Franklin County commissioners getting angry over lack of action with Eastpoint channel dredging

            Franklin County Commissioners are losing patience over the lack of success Congressman Gwen Graham has had in finding money to dredge the Eastpoint Channel.

A member of the congresswoman’s staff was at Tuesday’s county commission meeting so commissioners took the opportunity to bring up the issue.

Commissioners pointed out that they get calls almost every day from people complaining about the channel – and they need something done now.

Commissioner Cheryl Sanders said the channel is very important to the economy of Franklin County so we need to have something done before we “die on the vine down here in Franklin County.”

Franklin County has been trying for decades to dredge the Eastpoint channel – with no luck.

The channel has filled in so much that even smaller boats like oyster boats have had problems using the channel at certain times without lifting their motors and poling their way out.

Larger vessels like shrimp boats find the channel almost unusable.

The project was actually funded a number of years ago, but the money wound up being diverted to repairs after Hurricane Katrina and has never been replaced.

In 2013 the county even received the necessary permit from the State of Florida to dredge the Eastpoint Channel – that was the first permit approved to dredge the channel since the breakwater was built in 1984.

That permit allows for disposal of the spoil behind the existing breakwater.

Now the county just needs to find the money to do the work – the last cost estimate for the dredging project was about 3 million dollars.

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