Resident suggests misstatements
To the editor:
John Albion’s recent article on re-nourishment in the Beach Observer requires many corrections for his misstatements. Unforunately this has been the mark of those who try to push re-nourishment down the throats of Beach taxpayers for the last 11 years.
n * 1. Albion claims in the first paragraph of that article, that at the July re-nourishment workshop that HE sought to “clear up emotional rhetoric… by presenting facts…” at that meeting about “what home owners stand to lose…” That is categorically not true. As the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Albion was not on the panel of speakers at that meeting as he would lead you to believe.
As a member of the listening workshop audience, Albion tried unsuccessfully to discredit the two independent engineering firms who categorically said in writing that our beach has only two areas of some erosion. He repeated his error in his August Web site.
Albion does not tell you that the independent engineering firm shows that the erosion areas at the Pier and the Strandview need replacement sand for their real erosion. Yet, they get the least beach widening. The fastest growing areas get the most beach widening. Screwy!
n * 2. Albion does not tell you, as twice reported in the Observer, that President Obama removed beach restoration from his stimulus package for the nation. If the President dropped renourishment from the stimulus plan, why should not we not also drop it..
n * 3. Albion tries to make people believe that if we renourish the beach, we have a free insurance policy for the Feds to restore our beach forever at no cost to us. Simply, it is not true. Eligibility for something is not a free ticket. How many mailers have you received saying you were eligible for $1 million or some grand prizes!
Albion does not tell you that we are also eligible for government help if we drop this artificial beach widening program.
Proof is in what actually happens. Lovers Key was re-nourished by Lee County several years ago and the sand promptly washed away, leaving a scarred beach. County agrees that our beach will also wash away. Have the Feds replaced Lovers Key with free sand? No. Has Lovers Key gotten the expedited Federal attention that Albion touts? No.
n * 4. If Albion’s statements of government free sand are real, then get him to have Free sand written in our agreement with Lee County. It’s all political hot air.
n * 5 Albion did not tell you what Lee County itself is putting into this re-nourishment project alongside our small town. Big contribution. Answer: Zero County permanent dollars!!
If the Feds don’t pay their $3.5 million quickly enough County will lend the money until the Feds pay off. Just a loan, maybe. No permanent dollars.
Our innocent Town Council negotiators agreed to pony up $1million of your tax dollars versus no permanent dollars from Lee County!
All of this is but another example of why Beach owners simply do not trust Lee County and their politicians on renourishment.
Another example: Town Council reported last weekthat now 52 percent of the people have signed easements. But at the same time, County documents in bar chart form show the number signed as 42 percent with various degrees of intent beyond those actual signing easements.
It’s time for all of those who rescinded their easements to demand that Town Council get their easements formally removed. Can you trust Lee County on this?
Frank Schilling
Fort Myers Beach