Beach Damage Lowdown – Update

     We all know by now that a piece of our precious beach has taken a serious hit from the after-effects of Hurricane Sandy.


                       

     What we want to know, is what’s being done about it!
 
     This blog post is a curious story about one of the candidates for District II City Commissions’ idea for a quick temporary fix to the 4 blocks of serious erosion we have been seeing all over the news. 

      [ As an aside, there is a public meeting scheduled for Dec. 10th, at 7 pm, at the Beach Community Center (north of Oakland), that the City is holding with FDOT and the County to update everyone on the beach problem, but that’s got beach residents hopping mad, more on that in a minute. ]


                          

     Chuck Black
is a twenty year Navy Vet, and a candidate for the open seat that Charlotte Rodstrom vacated to run for a County seat last summer (Rodstrom is also running trying to retake her seat after losing the County race).. Black says when he heard about the damage at the beach, he knew right away that he could help.

     Black says he was a “damage control team trainer” in the Navy, and just happens to know the right people to put in a temporary fix, and almost no cost to the City. 

                             Here’s the deal


             

     Black’s friend is Joe Farrell, of Nantucket, and says if he puts these “modules” in the ocean where the waves have taken the beach away, the sand will return.

     Farrell is a “marine salvage specialist”, and owns a company called Resolve Marine Group. He says the modules are filled with water to keep them in place, then are craned just offshore, where they protect the beach and build up the sand until a more permanent solution is taken. He says he is ready, and that the modules can be in place in 72 hours after he is given the go-ahead.

     Here is an article about Farell and his plan for Nantucket.

                   

     Chuck Black and Farrell met with City Manager Lee Feldman a few days ago, and proffered the nearly no cost offer (the City/State would pay for the cranes- $20,000-$30,000, and Farrell would take care of the rest). Feldman sent the proposal off to the FDOT and the County for them to evaluate.

     We expect we’ll hear whether the local officials find the process doable at the update meeting on Dec. 10th…  

    ….. And the reason the beach area residents are upset about the update meeting on Dec. 10th, is because the meeting was scheduled at the exact same time as the beach is holding their candidates night – where they will be listening to the District II candidates – including Chuck Black!

        


     




    

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