Destin, 2 Counties remain committed to restoration

Officials from Okaloosa County, Walton County and the city of Destin remain committed to completing the halted beach restoration project in Walton County and Destin, with or without Great Lakes Dock and Dredge. Local officials met Monday morning at the Sandestin Hilton with representatives of the Chicago-based dredging company, originally contracted to restore about 7 miles of critically eroded beach in South Walton and Destin, to discuss the future of the project.

The project was halted by the Army Corps of Engineers in late May after a fourth sea turtle was killed during the dredging necessary to complete the restoration. Projects are allotted a number of turtle "takes" and the last turtle death saw the South Walton/Destin project meet its maximum number of turtle takes. The earliest the project could restart is Oct. 1, which marks the beginning of a new fiscal year and a fresh quota of turtle deaths. Jim Trifilio, beach projects manager for the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council, said Monday's meeting started with Great Lakes representatives asking local officials how they wanted the details of the meeting handled publicly. Trifilio said both sides agreed that keeping the details of the meeting confidential would be an appropriate way to handle the negotiations. Brad Pickel, beach management coordinator for Walton County TDC, said the TDC was still committed to its partnership with Okaloosa County and the city of Destin to complete the project, and he also said he was not at liberty to discuss the details of the meeting with Great Lakes. Pickel or Trifilio also declined to discuss Great Lake's future involvement in the project or if any conflicts arose over the cost of completing the project.

The project was intended to add 80-100 feet of sand to about 5 miles of beach in Walton County and 2 miles in Destin, all of which was deemed "critically eroded" by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The project had restored 3 miles of South Walton beach and was to move west to Destin only weeks before the project was suspended. The restored beach was designed to protect upland structures from storms as strong as a Category 3 hurricane, which generates winds of 111-130 mph and storm surge of 9-12 feet. The original cost of the project was about $23 million but project organizers believe it will go up as a result of the stoppage.

The Destin Log