Destin Supports Beach Restoration

“If you could get 34 percent to turn out for an election in the county, you’d say we’d set some kind of record,” Destin homeowner Terry Trojan says.
Trojan told the Destin City Council Monday that by that standard it’s great news that 34 percent of the beachfront homeowners contacted by Citizens for Healthy Beaches have signed petitions supporting a special tax assessment to pay for beach renourishment.

Assessments require support from more than 50 percent of affected property owners, but Trojan said he believed that more owners will sign on.

The city restored two miles of east Destin beach last year with money from the state and the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council. The TDC has budgeted $14.2 million to rebuild the rest of the beach — with another $11.5 million for Okaloosa Island — coming from $800,000 in state grants, $7.85 million in bed-tax money and $4.85 million from a municipal service benefits unit, a special tax district covering the beachfront owners.

After state budget cuts put the TDC funding plan in jeopardy, Trojan asked and received support from the City Council for a special tax assessment on Destin beachfront property owners. Under the city charter, that can only happen if more than 50 percent of the affected owners support it; CHB has mailed out 1,980 petitions asking for that support.

Monday, Mayor Craig Barker signed two such petitions, covering two city owned beachfront parcels. Trojan said he’s confident that when CHB’s second mailing goes out to owners who didn’t respond to the first letter, the percentage of supporters will grow.

Trojan said that some of the people who oppose restoration do so because of distortions or rumors they’ve heard about it. He said the city should post more information on its Web site to counter that.

“The questions we had to answer indicate there is a vacuum out there in the public — a lack of comprehension about beach restoration,” Trojan said. “Not everyone understands the specifics or the details. A lot of people think they know what’s going on and have formed very definite opinions.”

Councilor Jim Bagby said he’d support using the city’s Web site as long as the material was limited to straight facts, rather than trying to talk opponents into switching sides. Trojan said there’s a Web site set up by Cape San Blas that could be used as a model.

It’s possible the special assessment won’t be necessary. Okaloosa County Beach Projects Coordinator Jim Trifilio told The Log last week that the state’s budget for the 2008/9 fiscal year includes several million for Okaloosa Island and a $100,000 grant for Destin. That might enable the TDC to proceed with only slight adjustments to the plan.

TDC Executive Director Darrel Jones, however, told The Log that Gov. Charlie Crist has directed state agencies to plan for 4 percent cuts from that budget, in case the state’s economic slump continues. Jones said it’s too soon to say how that might affect local beach restoration.

Published on Wednesday, June 18, 2008