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RE: Navarre Beach Pier Faces Environmental Delays

johnsonbeachbum — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:17:37 GMT

Funny you should ask! Someone must have asked somelse the same question:

Navarre Pier to get permits

Posted on November 12th, 2008 by Rick Outzen

According to the Daily News,the National Marine Fisheries Service completes this week its review of the study on the pier’s impact on sea turtles and gulf sturgeon. The Fisheries Service’s comments will be forwarded to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to use when it issues a permit for the project. County Commissioner Gordon Goodin told the Daily News that he expects the permit to be issued by the end of November.

Work on the pier came to a near screeching halt in June when the county was told it had to conduct a biological assessment of the pier’s impact on sea turtles and gulf sturgeon. Navarre Beach has been without a pier since Hurricane Ivan destroyed the previous 1,200-foot structure in September 2004.

http://ricksblog.biz/?p=4138

Looks like Nelson boasting about getting them in 30 days was a bit optomistic.

RE: Navarre Beach Pier Faces Environmental Delays

Southern Yankee — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:29:30 GMT

has there been any update on this yet? The last post was June 16th

RE: Navarre Beach Pier Faces Environmental Delays

johnsonbeachbum — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:44:02 GMT

Maybe just hot air but Nelson said at a June 9th meeting................

Nelson gets behind Navarre Pier project
BY PAM BRANNON Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Pam Brannon/Gulf Breeze News U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida greets a constituent during Monday's Santa Rosa Town Hall Meeting in Milton.

U. S. Senator Bill Nelson (DFla.) is pushing to get permits for the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier approved on the fast track.

He told a group of just over 100 Monday at a Town Hall meting in Milton that it looks like he might have all the permits pushed through for the pier within 30 days.

"I talked with the Army Corps of Engineers office just before coming into this meeting, and it looks like the final permits will be in the hand of the Fish and Wildlife department within the next couple days," Nelson said.

"And instead of having the usual lengthy process of approval, I have been pushing this paperwork along. It looks like they are assuring me we will have the final signatures and the green light within the next 30 days. I will stay right on this."

Nelson held an informal, hour-long question-and-answer Town Hall meeting in the chambers of the Santa Rosa County Commissioners.

RE: Navarre Beach Pier Faces Environmental Delays

HAG 90 10 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:17:02 GMT

With the NMFS involved you can kiss our Pier goodbye. :banghead

Navarre Beach Pier Faces Environmental Delays

johnsonbeachbum — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:08:24 GMT

News: Navarre Beach Pier Faces Environmental Delays

by Duwayne Escobedo

June 5th, 2008

Santa Rosa County applied for environmental permits to rebuild the Navarre Beach pier in October 2007 and hoped to complete the project by the end of 2009.

However, it appears U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and National Marine Fisheries Service regulators plan to delay the project by requiring more unexpected environmental studies.The federal agencies are demanding a Formal Consultation and a Biological Assessment relating to the construction and operation of the Navarre Beach pier.

The current fishing pier was severely damaged by hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 and since that time Santa Rosa County has been working with FEMA to obtain about $8.4 million to remove the old pier and build a more disaster resistant structure.

Santa Rosa County Commissioner Gordon Goodin says the "dubious" request by the federal agencies will likely delay the pier from being rebuilt by six to 12 months.

"This delay was completely unexpected," he says in an e-mail. "This is a prime example of an arbitrary and capricious decision by a couple of federal agencies. It will increase costs, and since it is a project funded by FEMA, one federal agency (the Army Corps of Engineers in Jacksonville) is creating another unnecessary expense for another federal agency (FEMA) -- all funded through taxpayer dollars. Lost in all of this debate is the fact that the pier was in existence for 40 years prior to the hurricane that damaged it, something that can't find relevance with the bureaucrats."

Goodin and Santa Rosa County officials say they are working with Florida Congressmen in Washington, D.C., to try and resolve the permitting dispute with federal regulators. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's office says the delay will not take more than 135 days to be resolved and could be less, Goodin reports.

The new Navarre Beach pier will be about 20-feet wide and constructed using concrete piles, concrete pile caps, and concrete beams. Depending on how construction bids compare with the available funding, the pier will be 1,200 to 1,500 feet long.

Until the recent delays with obtaining the federal permit, Santa Rosa County had planned to advertise for bids in early June. Based on a 12-16 month construction schedule, this would allow for the pier to be completed by the end of 2009.

Santa Rosa County officials point out that the Navarre Beach fishing pier is very similar to two fishing piers currently being built in Panama City Beach and existing nearby fishing piers in Pensacola Beach and Okaloosa County. The proposed Panama City Beach piers and the other existing piers are also very similar in length, width, type of construction, and expected environmental impacts.

According to the county: The proposed Navarre Beach pier will be built adjacent to the remains of a current pier that was originally built in the 1960s. The project site is also the location of a large scale beach nourishment project that was completed in late 2005 using state and local funds. For this beach nourishment project, the beach width was increased by about 200 feet by pumping sand from an offshore site.

http://www.inweekly.net/article.asp?artID=7912