INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Indian River County’s five mayors are ready to move forward with a study to determine if reefs could be a permanent solution to beach erosion.
The last three times the mayors have gathered they have discussed the possibility of finding an alternative to the county’s established process of beach renourishment, noting that funding for such projects is beginning to dry up.
The mayors – who include Jay Kramer from Vero Beach, Jim Hill from Sebastian, Susan Adams from Fellsmere, Richard Dunlop from Orchid, and Tom Cadden from Indian River Shores – have asked county engineer James Gray to go back to the county and seek a workshop amongst the Beach and Shore Preservation Advisory Committee, the Board of County Commissioners and the mayors to discuss the options.
Prior to Monday’s meeting, the mayors learned that it could cost between $250,000 and $350,000 to have a full study done of the beaches to determine where the problematic areas are and how best to fix them.
Armed with data from the county’s monitoring of the beaches and other information already on record, they hope to cut the cost down.
Regardless of the cost, Orchid Mayor Richard Dunlop suggested splitting the cost six ways – between the cities, towns and the unincorporated part of the county.
By splitting the cost proportionately based on shoreline, Vero Beach could pay between $29,500 and $41,300, while Indian River Shores could pay between $120,500 and $168,700. Orchid’s tab could be between $18,250 and $25,550, while Indian River County could pay between $81,750 and $114,450.
The county could then ask Fellsmere and Sebastian to contribute, as well as others – including Disney, Sea Oaks and Windsor.
Those portions could then be split amongst Vero Beach, Indian River Shores and Indian River County based on the number of public beaches in each sector, Dunlop suggested.
“I was just trying to be fair,” Dunlop said of his proposal.
No one opposed the recommendation.
Dunlop added that he could not speak for the other municipalities but that he knew his town is willing to help share the cost.
“These beaches are too important” not to be involved, he said.
Even though neither Sebastian nor Fellsmere have any beachfront property, their mayors support sharing in the cost of the study.
Sebastian Mayor Jim Hill noted that it’s taxpayer dollars going to the beach replenishment projects anyway.
Fellsmere Mayor Susan Adams said the county cannot financially sustain multi-million-dollar beach renourishment projects indefinitely and should figure out a more permanent solution to keep sand on the beaches.
“It’s only going to get more expensive,” Indian River Shores Mayor Tom Cadden said.
The mayors have pointed to Vero Beach’s prefabricated reef out from Sexton Plaza as a potential solution to beach erosion. The reef was considered experimental when it was placed out in the water in the mid 1990s.
County engineer James Gray said that for all the monitoring and studying done of the reef, it is “still somewhat inconclusive” that it has had any impact to the nearby beach.
The “control” beaches north and south of reef, along with the “project” beach have shown minimal change – all are stable, according to Charles “Tem” Fontaine, of Coastal Tech. He said it is hard to determine what, if any, impact the reef has had on the beach.
Hill reminded his fellow mayors and those in the audience that technology has come a long way in the 15 years since the reef was installed and that a new model could show them more clearly what impact a new reef could have.
Dunlop stressed the importance of bringing the issue up to the Beach and Shore Preservation Advisory Committee and getting the Board of County Commissioners on board.
“We don’t want this to stagnate,” Dunlop said. “We’re going to keep pushing until something happens.”
|