SEBASTIAN — The Sebastian City Council has voted to appropriate $2,000 from the Indian River Lagoon Budget for a Sebastian Eagle Scout candidate’s Oyster Bed Restoration project.
Boy Scout John Giordano, a Life Scout from St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church’s Troop 500, accompanied by his father, Paul Giordano, appeared before the Council last month to request approval of his Eagle project and to ask for the City’s funding support.
Giordano told Council he plans to raise the balance of the project cost, $1,750, through bake sales and other fundraisers.
Oysters are a keystone species that support the entire ecosystem into which they are introduced, through their ability to efficiently clarify and purify water.
A single oyster is able to filter 50 gallons of water a day, which allows sunlight to reach the lagoon bottom so seagrass can grow, thus allowing the rest of the food chain to prosper.
Oyster mat projects have already resulted in robust regrowth of dwindling sea grass in several areas of the Indian River Lagoon.
Giordano’s project encompasses “making and planting” 500 mats in two locations in the Lagoon, near existing oyster beds.
The Eagle Scout candidate already has firsthand experience with oyster mat “technology,” having worked with classmates on an oyster mat project in his science class.
He says he chose the oyster mat project because, “I thought it would benefit the environment and it will involve a lot of leadership.”
In January, Giordano presented his plan to the City’s Natural Resources Board, which has been developing an oyster mat plan for the City. He plans to accomplish Phase I of the project, assembling the 500 16” X 16” mats, with volunteers from his Boy Scout Troop and the Sebastian High School Green Club.
Phase II, putting two 250-mat sections together, will be done during the summer, at Camp Oklawaha – the Scout Camp along the Sebastian River in Roseland.
Natural Resources Board Chair Alan Northcott and Vice-Chair Gil Gordian were present at the Council meeting in support of Giordano, and the Board will coordinate with Giordano as the project progresses.
The City has already obtained several thousand oyster shells from a seafood packaging plant in Melbourne.
City Staff is working with the Army Corps of Engineers to obtain the required permitting.
In response to a question from a resident, Paul Giordano explained that a Scout’s Eagle project can be brought to the Eagle Board for approval only after the project has first been approved by the recipient, in this case, the City of Sebastian.
All project funds will be handled through the City Manager’s office.
