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News
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Posted May 8, 2008
Commissioner Cheryl Sanders and Representative Will
Kendrick
to attend APTA Meeting
By APTA President, Ken Osborne
From the May 6
Franklin County Commission Meeting…
The County is contacting DEP regarding declaring a state
of emergency in order to allow homeowners in critically threatened areas
to build seawalls, revetments etc. for protection before the height of
hurricane season. This is similar to procedures after Dennis.
The Board of County Commissioners awarded the CR 370
re-paving to C. W. Roberts. The project should begin within 120 days.
Cheryl Sanders and Will Kendrick will be at the
APTA meeting on May 10. Cheryl will be discussing the design of the boat
launch at Ochlockonee Bridge. The meeting begins at 9:00 AM at the
Mission by the Sea Church.
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Posted April 29, 2008
Notes from the April 22nd Franklin County Commission
Meeting
By APTA President, Ken Osborne
Repaving CR 370
Franklin County received a single bid from C. W. Roberts
of $2,491,000 to
repave County Road 370 from US 98 to Phipps Nature
Preserve. Alan Pierce said that the county had sufficient funds with the
state grant to fund the project. This project does not include any
paving past the new paved area around Tom Roberts down Harbor Circle
(south) to Alligator Drive and west to the vicinity of the fire house.
Paving will start again at the fire house and continue to Phipps (past
the Marina). The bid is now with the engineers and should be awarded at
the May 6th Franklin County Commission meeting.
Alligator Drive Relocation
The County feels it has enough FEMA and secured funds
remaining from the former beach renourishment project to pave the
planned route from Tom Roberts down Harbor Circle (south) to Alligator
Drive that is not included in the CR 370 repaving project. The
commissioners were very concerned that this leaves 600' of the road west
of South Shoal Village as vulnerable to wash out as it is today.
Proposed Revision to Turtle Ordinance
The proposed Turtle Ordinance changes were pulled by the
turtle permit holder from St. George Island for reconsideration. They
plan to have a series of educational presentations to the Franklin
County Commission and joint workshops to develop another proposed
modification to the Turtle Ordinance.
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Posted April 14, 2008
NOTE from APTAWEB: The following notice was
published in The Times Newspaper. Bids will be opened at the April 22,
2008 Franklin County Commission meeting at 10:00 A.M.
NOTICE TO RECEIVE SEALED BIDS
C.R. 370 RESURFACING PROJECT
"The Franklin County Board of County Commissioners will
receive sealed bids from any qualified person, company or corporation
interested in constructing:
C.R. 370 RESURFACING PROJECT
Plans and specifications can be obtained at Preble-Rish,
Inc., 324 Marina Drive, Port St. Joe, Florida 32456, (850) 227-7200. The
bid must conform to Section 287.133(3) Florida Statutes, on public
entity crimes.
Completion date for these projects will be 180 days from
the date of the Notice to Proceed presented to the successful bidder.
Liquidated damages for failure to complete the project
on the specified date will be set at $200.00 per day.
Please indicate on the envelope that this is a sealed
bid, the bid number and what the bid is for.
Bids will be received until 4:00 p.m. (EDT), on April
21, 2008, at the Franklin County Clerk’s Office, Franklin County
Courthouse, 33 Market Street, Suite 203, Apalachicola, Florida
32320-2317, and will be opened and read aloud on April 22, 2008, at
10:00 a.m. (EDT) at the County Commission meeting at 34 Forbes Street,
Apalachicola, FL.
Cost for Plans and Specifications will be $25.00 per set
and is non-refundable. Checks should be made payable to PREBLE-RISH,
INC.
The Board of County Commissioners reserves the right to
waive informalities in any bid, to accept and/or reject any or all bids,
and to accept the bid that in their judgment will be in the best
interest of Franklin County.
If you have any questions, please call Clay Kennedy at
(850) 227-7200.
Publish April 3 & 10, 2008"
(in The Times
newspaper)
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Posted April 14, 2008
Franklin County to Pick Up Roadside Debris
Franklin County will have crews at Alligator Point
Monday and Tuesday to pick up debris that has been placed on the right
of way.
If the crews miss picking up debris you set out for
removal, please contact APTA’s Beatification Chair, Joann Deibel at
270-1013.
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Posted April 14, 2008
NOTE from APTAWEB: APTA President Ken Osborne asked
for and received permission from Bob Stender, a Board Member of the
Perdido Key Association to reprint the following article Bob wrote for
the Perdido Key Association web site;
www.perdidokeyassoc.org
Lines in the Sand
Bob Stender
Recently a meeting was held at the Community Center regarding the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection proposal to establish an
erosion control line (ECL) on Perdido Key. In order to understand the
significance of this line, a discussion of some of the other lines in
the sand may be helpful. I will try to go from landward to seaward in
this discussion where possible.
To start, the state has determined that Perdido Key, in its entirety, is
in the Coastal High Hazard Area (CHHA). The Florida Administrative Code
(FAC) requires counties in their comprehensive plans to "[d]irect
population concentrations away from known or predicted coastal
high-hazard areas." Rule 9J-5.012(3)(b)(6), F.A.C. Furthermore, local
governments have an obligation to "limit public expenditures that
subsidize development permitted in coastal high-hazard areas." Rule
9J-5.012(3)(b)5, F.A.C. This line, around the whole Key, has obvious
significance as we discuss and debate the planning for future growth and
construction on the Key.
The next designation or line is the sand, is the coastal construction
control line (CCCL). This is a more or less permanent line established
by the state which defines that "portion of the beach-dune system
subject to severe fluctuations which is based on a 100-year storm surge,
storm waves, or other predictable weather conditions" 62B-33.002 FAC.
Construction landward of this line does not require any special permit.
Construction seaward of the CCCL requires a permit from the state, which
provides for additional safeguards in the construction of structures due
to the additional hazards from the environment. This line, therefore,
does not limit construction; it only requires construction to meet
higher, safer standards.
The 50-foot setback line is a line used in conjunction with the CCCL "in
which construction is prohibited within 50 feet of the line of mean high
water at any riparian coastal location fronting the Gulf of Mexico or
the Atlantic coast shoreline" 62B-33.002 FAC. So, one can build seaward
of the CCCL to higher standards, but no closer than fifty feet from the
mean high tide line.
The mean high water line "is the average height of the high-waters over
a 19-year period" 62B-33.002 FAC. In practice, licensed and certified
personnel obtain data from a specified tidal gauge in the area and then
project that data on to a map to find the mean high water line. The
state of Florida claims all land, surface and subsurface, seaward of the
mean high water to the limits of its territorial seas.
Riparian land owners, those people owning waterfront land, can gain or
lose land over time as they gain land through natural accretion or lose
land through natural erosion. Generally, land must be gained over a
period of time, imperceptibly, to be claimed by the riparian landowner;
it can be lost in a similar manner. Land lost or gained rapidly
(avulsion), as in a storm or by beach nourishment, does not necessarily
change ownership.
The erosion control line is a line proposed to be established by FDEP.
The ECL is to be established at the mean high water line surveyed as of
August 2007. Private property landward of the ECL will remain private
property and lands seaward remain state lands. The line will not move
once it is established per 161.141 Florida Statutes (FS). The benefit to
be gained is that once the line is established, the county will be
eligible to apply for federal and state (matching) funds to maintain and
re-nourish the beach. Depending on how a beach nourishment project will
be funded, county residents may be called upon to approve the
expenditure of county funds for the project.
While these lines in the sand have been established by the state; the
tides and winds are moving the island without regard to those lines.
Storm winds and tides have altered, and will continue changing the shape
of the island, causing significant changes to the lines in the sand.
This latest regulatory defined line in the sand points to the need for
sound policies and public involvement to ensure Perdido Key remains the
paradise we all call home.
Access to the Florida Administrative Code and Florida Statutes can be
found at:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/legal/Rules/rulelistpro.htm#bm
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Posted April 14, 2008
NWFTCA Public Meeting
April 23, 2008
The Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority
will conduct a public meeting on April 23rd at the Senior
Center in Carrabelle. The meeting begins at 5:00 PM and will end at 8:00
PM.
This is an opportunity for citizens to ask questions of
the engineering firm that is analyzing proposed options for US 98 and to
also provide their input.
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Posted April 4, 2008
Proposed Changes to the County Turtle Ordinance Could
Affect You
A message from APTA President Ken Osborne
"We will be discussing the proposed changes to the
turtle ordinance at our next APTA meeting April 12th
at the Mission by the Sea Church starting at 9:00 AM.
These changes will affect any property seaward of the
Coastal Control Construction Line (CCCL) on Alligator Point. These
changes could result in required changes to lighting, windows and doors
for both existing and new construction. The county commission continued
the public hearing on the ordinance to allow input from other interested
parties besides the turtle patrol. Please join us to develop input from
all area of the community."
Original
Lighting Ordinance for Marine Turtle Protection
Proposed
Lighting Ordinance for Marine Turtle Protection
(original ordinance with edits to indicate the proposed
changes, as provided by the County)
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Posted March 21, 2008
NOTE from APTAWEB: The following public notice was
published in the March 20th issue of the TIMES
newspaper.
NOTICE OF PROPOSED ORDINANCE
The Franklin County Board of County Commissioners
proposes to adopt the following ordinance:
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE 98-11, THE MARINE TURTLE PROTECTION
ORDINANCE. THIS AMENDMENT IS INTENDED TO PROTECT MARINE TURTLES FROM THE
ADVERSE EFFECTS OF ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING, PROVIDE OVERALL IMPROVEMENT IN
NESTING HABITAT DEGRADED BY LIGHT POLLUTION AND INCREASE SUCCESSFUL
NESTING ACTIVITY AND PRODUCTION OF HATCHINGS ON THE BEACHES OF FRANKLIN
COUNTY, FLORIDA.
The proposed ordinance may be inspected in the office of the Franklin
County Planning & Building Department, 34 Forbes Street, Suite 1,
Apalachicola, Florida. A public hearing on this proposed ordinance will
be held on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 10:00 A.M., at the County
Commission meeting room in the Courthouse Annex, 34 Forbes Street,
Apalachicola, Florida. Persons wishing to comment may do so in person at
the public hearing or in writing to the Franklin County Board of County
Commissioners, 33 Market Street, Suite 203, Apalachicola, Florida 32320.
Transactions of this hearing will not be recorded. Persons who may wish
to appeal any action resulting from this hearing dhould make the
necessary arrangements to record the proceedings.
PUBLISH: March 20, 2008.
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Posted March 13, 2008
County Commissioners Vote "NO" on
AP Beach Renourishment Project
Reported by APTAWEB
In a Special Meeting at the Armory Tuesday, Franklin
County Commissioners voted "NO" on the AP Beach Renourishment Project
and directed County Director of Administrative Services, Alan Pierce, to
recommend alternatives to protect that portion of Alligator Drive
westward of the strip that was paved last year. Among the possible
recommendations are: to do nothing, to place rocks, or to install sheet
piling.
County Commission Chairman, Noah Lockley began the
meeting by introducing County Supervisor of Elections, Doris Gibbs, who
then proceeded to describe the ballot count process, attested to the
count and then announced the vote: 300 "NO" votes and 264
"YES" votes.
After Commissioner Lockley acknowledged receiving the
results, he opened the floor to Commissioners for discussion where upon
Commissioner Cheryl Sanders motioned to vote "NO" based on the
results of the ballot". Commissioner Putnal second the motion
stating "the sand would only wash away". The four Commissioners
present then voted "NO" on the project. Commissioner Parrish was not
present as he was in "Washington DC assisting in testimony for a
Congressional subcommittee on the Water wars between Florida and
Georgia".
Following the vote, discussion revolved around options
for protecting approximately 1800’ of Alligator Drive.
With the Commissioners vote the project is dead and no
assessments will be made.
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Posted March 13, 2008
County Moves April 15th County Commission
Meeting to April 22nd
Due to a scheduling conflict, County Director of
Administrative Services, Alan Pierce announced that the previously
scheduled April 15th County Commission meeting would be
changed to Tuesday April 22nd at the Franklin County
Courthouse Annex.
APTAWEB previously posted a notice that bids for
resurfacing Alligator Drive would be opened at the April 15th
meeting. With this change the bids will be opened at 10:00 AM April 22,
2008.
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Posted February 28, 2008
Alligator Point
Taxpayers Association Membership Drive
APTA is conducting its annual Membership Drive. Please
lookout for a postcard asking you to consider renewing your membership
or becoming a new member. Annual membership is $30.
This web site is the main source of news about our
community and is made possible by your choice to become a member.
A Membership form is also available from our homepage by
clicking the membership icon. Details are printed on the form.
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