Franklin County commissioners have decided to bring in the Conservation Corps of the Forgotten Coast to repair the dune walkovers on St. George Island

Franklin County commissioners have decided to bring in the Conservation Corps of the Forgotten Coast to repair the dune walkovers on St. George Island since the county parks department is busy with other jobs right now.

The Conservation Corps of the Forgotten Coast is a youth development program for young adults 18-25 years of age who are not engaged in school or a career pathway.

Franklin County needs to repair 7 dune walkovers on the island because of the damage they incurred during Hurricane Michael.

The county did rebuild the walkovers after the storm, but they were rebuilt to the same specifications as they were before the storm because the county didn't have the needed state permits to build them differently .

The problem is the storm reconfigured the profile of the beach so the rebuilt walkovers are steeper than they were before the storm.

That has led to some accidents and injuries.

Now the county needs to rebuild the walkovers so they aren't as steep, but because its sea turtle nesting season that cant do that work until October when turtle nesting season ends.

The best they can do at this time is level the walkovers and put stairs at the end of each one.

Originally the county parks department was expected to do the repairs but it has not found the time because of the other work they have to do.

On Tuesday the county commission agreed to bring in the Conservation Corps to get the job done as soon as possible.

The commission says it will put signs at the entrance to each walkover saying that they are not handicapped accessible.

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