Beach contamination in Seagrove

[ecopal]

The following excerpt from the Board of County Commisssioner meeting minutes states unequivocally that any sand less than the 7.2 standard placed after August 1, 2005 has to be removed at homeowners or contractors expense.

The sand just tested by the county last week that was dumped after August 1 ( witnesses report seeing some dumped last week) was tested at 6.2 (at best after being microwaved to maximally dry it out) and clearly does not meet the 7.2 standard.

an excerpt from Walton County Board of Commissioners AUGUST 1, 2005-SPECIAL MEETING

"Motion by Commissioner Jones to remove any material that does not meet the 6.2 standard as set forth by staff. The motion also included raising the standard to 7.2, and requiring that any material used was to be in accordance with the typical section for shoreline stabilization as presented by Mrs. Blackshear, capped with a minimum of three feet of sand*with a value of 8.1.*This is to be effective as of August 2, 2005. Any material placed on the beach prior to this meeting, that met the standard of 6.2 when approved, would be considered an allowable use for emergency stability fill.* Any material that was placed on the beach prior to this meeting and*was not in compliance with the 6.2 standard must be removed at the contractor's or homeowner?s expense.* Any material placed on the beach, subsequent to this meeting, that does not meet the 7.2 standard would not be an allowable use and*would have to be removed at the contractor's or homeowner's expense.*Commissioner Meadows seconded the motion."

read all the minutes at http://minutes.co.walton.fl.us/

 

[FoX]

I remember the words that were recorded in those minutes. I remember Mrs. Blackshear repeating the whole decision because she wanted to be sure that she and everyone else on staff understood what to do from that point on.

Any county employee or elected official who is confused needs to read the minutes to clear up any confusion they might have.

 

[ecopal]

County officials are saying they gave the Montgomery Street owners "special dispensation" to put less than 7.2 sand on the beach dunes after August.

Do county officials have the right to over ride an unambiguous Board of Commissioners' ruling?

 

[For The Health Of It]

With this information as to the actual grade of the sand, an emergency meeting of our elected officials must be called for. This is what was so effective in Blue Mountain. Everyone posting here needs to contact the commissioners on Monday and express your desire for the Board to call an EMERGENCY MEETING.

The dirt must go at the expense of the contractor or the homeowner. This time, we the tax payers should not be obligated to pay as we did in Blue Mountain.

Nice work ecopal, smilin joe and all others involved.

 

[Smiling JOe]

County officials are saying they gave the Montgomery Street owners "special dispensation" to put less than 7.2 sand on the beach dunes after August.

Do county officials have the right to over ride an unambiguous Board of Commissioners' ruling?

According to Greg Graham (in charge of qualifing the sand being dumped, the County Commissioners are allowing anyone who had began work before Aug 01 to continue to finish the job. When my friend asked him what "began work" meant, he had a very vague response. My friend asked if the homeowner simply had a contract, did that mean that the job had began. His indirect response was yes. Therefore, this "special dispensation" is not restricted to Seagrove, but anywhere along the beaches of SoWal. Also included would be the huge seawall being constructed south of the 30A/hwy395 intersection. They commenced that project prior to Aug 01, if I correctly recall.

To my knowledge, the Commissioners cannot approve anything that contradicts the policy which they made, unless the policy is changed by them. They have not publicly changed the policy, so in my opinion, non-legal, it doesn't matter what they tell the Code Enforcement, Greg Graham, or Pat Blackshear now. Greg is approving sand that does not meet the minimum standards and he should be held accountable. If his superior(s) are agreeing with him and his piss-poor story of I didn't understand the law, they too, should be held accountable.

 

[Smiling JOe]

With this information as to the actual grade of the sand, an emergency meeting of our elected officials must be called for. This is what was so effective in Blue Mountain. Everyone posting here needs to contact the commissioners on Monday and express your desire for the Board to call an EMERGENCY MEETING.

The dirt must go at the expense of the contractor or the homeowner. This time, we the tax payers should not be obligated to pay as we did in Blue Mountain.

Nice work ecopal, smilin joe and all others involved.

I hear you Peaboy, but I see a problem. Greg Graham has given permission ( a power that he should not have, nor does have) to the homeowners to finish any job started before Aug 1, using the old minimum and sub-par standards. Even today, Greg will not tell the homeowners that he made a mistake in interpreting the law, and that from this day forward, any new sand brought in would have to meet the current standard. He, Pat Blackshear and the County Commissioners whom he states agree with the breaking of the rules should at least step up to the plate today. This is just ridiculous. Our local gov't sucks.

 

[Rita]

I hear you Peaboy, but I see a problem. Greg Graham has given permission ( a power that he should not have, nor does have) to the homeowners to finish any job started before Aug 1, using the old minimum and sub-par standards. .....

This being the case, the county (taxpayers) should have to pay for the removal of the dark sand/soil. It still should be removed.
Then at election time REMOVE officials that don't bother to go to meetings or those who do not read and make sure they are clear on the policies.

 

[Smiling JOe]

This being the case, the county (taxpayers) should have to pay for the removal of the dark sand/soil. It still should be removed.
Then at election time REMOVE officials that don't bother to go to meetings or those who do not read and make sure they are clear on the policies.

Just a bit more info-- at the meeting in Aug, Greg Graham was there, and whenthe question was asked, "who was in charge of checking the imported sand for minimum standards," Greg stood up and accepted the blame. I know darn well he knew what was going on then in Blue Mtn Beach, just as he knew the law after the meeting, just as he now knows that his actions are allowing people to either knowingly or unknowingly, illegally dump dark sand on the beach. I think before the tax payers are hit again, Greg should be removed from his position. If he continues to remain employeed in the current job, we can see a repeat of all of this again and again and again, all at taxpayers expense, and at the profits of whomever is the contractor on these jobs (does anyone know if Commissioner Roe Cuchens has these jobs too?)

I hate politics because it gets me extremely heated and I prefer to lie level like water.

 

[tuck]

During the meeting in August, Greg Graham took the fall for the actions of Ro Cuchens. That was very clear. We, the tax payers took the hit by paying for the removal of the dirt.

There were many people who were told before that meeting took place that nothing could be done about the Red Clay. We prooved them wrong. We must request the entire board come for an EMERGENCY meeting. This worked once, lets get it done again. Once these people see that we will hold them accountable again and again, then maybe some of Ro's Cronies will back out on him.

Find out if the house that the sand is going to in seagrove has a wall placed by Ro's crew. If so, then find out if the sand has come from his brother in laws sand pit north of Defuniak.

 

[For The Health Of It]

Once again, Tuck is right. In Blue Mountain, we were told the sand would stay. We even saw Greg Graham tamper with the test results to the approval of the County Staff. We forced their hand by demanding an emergency meeting. Cindy Meadows and Ken Pridgen were great about getting this done. Once at the meeting things got done. Illegal sand was removed and the projects halted.

We can do it again. Contact all the Commissioners and DEMAND action. They work for us..