Okaloosa County is onboard to help pay to dredge the mouth of Destin Harbor after Mayor Sam Seevers told commissioners that the harbor and navigation channel posed a “very dangerous situation.”
“It’s shoaling in that area and making it very difficult to navigate in and out of the harbor,” she said at a commission meeting last week. “If they (the charter fishing fleet) cannot get out of that harbor — and right now it’s very difficult for some of the larger boats to get out — that will strap our economy.”
As a pre-emptive strike, the Destin City Council declared an emergency at a recent meeting so the city could request funding from the county for an emergency dredge project. The request for no more than $180,000 would come from the Tourist Development Council’s bed tax dollars.
The emergency declaration also will allow the city to navigate the permitting process more quickly.
Although the TDC would contribute most of the money, Destin would put up $20,000 to assist in the project, which would dredge about 12,000 cubic yards of sand, Seevers said. She told commissioners that over the past four years the city has spent $241,000 on “consistent dredging.”
“It’s been really, really hard on us,” she said. “This area is not even in Destin’s jurisdiction, but we’ve got to step up to the plate and make this happen.”
Over the past few months, several boat captains shared stories with City Council members about their props scraping the sand and their boats betting stuck in the navigation channel near the Marler Bridge.
Based on a study conducted in 2000, Seevers told county commissioners that Destin’s fishing fleet contributed more than $370 million to the local economy. She noted that the figure applied only to the boats, not to other businesses along the harbor.
County Commissioner Wayne Harris said dredging the harbor was of great importance.
“This is not just a Destin issue, it’s a whole county issue,” he said at the commission meeting.
Okaloosa Island resident and beach restoration opponent David Sherry said stabilizing Norriego Point still is the ultimate answer.
“I’m not here to oppose the harbor dredge or even your funding of it,” he said. “I am here to ask you and the city to plan ahead and honor those commitments that were made before.
“I just don’t want the sense of urgency to armor Norriego Point to go away,” he added.
Seevers said Destin is in the process of permitting the project, which is expected to cost more than $8 million.
“The solution to all of this is to get Norriego Point fixed,” Seevers said. “We are not going to quit trying to get Norriego Point stabilized once and for all.”
Commissioners unanimously agreed to help fund the dredging and to write a letter of support for emergency permitting to dredge East Pass.
Destin Log Staff Writer Matt Algarin can be reached at 850-654-8446 or malgarin@thedestinlog.com. Follow him on Twitter @DestinLogMatt.
