Beach owners have decided: No re-nourishment
To the editor:
The facts are beach owners do not want Lee County’s artificial beach expansion covering two thirds of our island. It is crystal clear!
Town’s current data says only about 32 percent of private property owners have signed easements, or intend to sign easements. That includes businesses that John Albion represents as Chamber of Commerce President, as well as private beach front owners.
Governments have automatically signed up 14 percent of easements, all about 10 years ago.
Ten years and less than half of the easements agreed to. Re-nourishment is not selling!
Four things are quite clear.
n 1. Lee County and Commissioner Judah have little credibility with the beach front owners. Individual owners have LEARNED not to believe what ever County says.
To start with the re-nourishment name is phony. County’s proposal is artificial beach widening, not re-nourishment.
Both County’s independent engineering firm and our Towns’ independent engineering firm have precisely agreed in writing that there are only two erosion spots. The rest of the area has been historically been stable or growing!! That is data talking, not anecdotal stories about “critical erosion”
Government ACTUAL periodic beach measurements are the data sources for County and Town’s independent engineering written and signed reports.
I displayed one of these engineering reports on five very large display boards at the July 16 workshop. I invited Albion to inspect them.
n 2. County’s claim of re-nourishment storm protection 10 years ago, exposed County’s misrepresentations. The project manager had to admit on public record that ” in the event of a hurricane, all bets are off!.”
From that point, County’s credibility went down hill.
n 3. Renourishment project management was deficient. The two areas with erosion got the least beach widening. Imagine that!
The two fastest growing areas at Bowditch and around the Red Coconut got the most widening. Does this give anyone a warm feeling that County’s Project Manager knew what he was doing?
n 4. When everything else fails, County resorts to scare tactics to try to get easements.
The current phony scare tactic is that without re-nourishment, the government will not pay for fixing our beach after a hurricane. Joanne Shamp has researched this and cited to the press, the law that says otherwise.
I have spoken at length with and e-mailed well over a hundred non-signers of easements. I can say that people certainly do understand the facts and do not like the harassment that has been going on by county and Town.
The fact is: PEOPLE HAVE DECIDED. The Army Corps of Engineers said on July 16, that re-nourishment is not viable with the poor showing of easements that we have.
Several months ago, our Mayor said that the people would decide re-nourishment.
I call on the Mayor to honor his commitment: Stop the nonsense NOW! Voters are watching. Town money continues to be wasted.
Frank Schilling
Fort Myers Beach