Residents flock to City Hall to voice their support for county installation of sand-saving devices.
By CHRISTINE DELLERT
Published May 16, 2004
ST. PETE BEACH - Upham Beach residents flooded City Hall for the second time this spring to support the county's decision to install sand-saving groins as a more enduring answer to erosion problems.
About 200 neighbors crowded the lobby and commission chambers Tuesday night. Others were turned away by police officers at City Hall's entrance.
Joe Gonzalez, president of the Silver Sands condominium association, said he was pleased with the turnout. "People are very concerned," he said. "There's no beach."
He and residents from the four major beachfront complexes on Upham lobbied for the groins at a city commission meeting almost two months ago.
"The council thought it was an aberration on (March) 23," he said. "They found it was the truth last Tuesday."
The county has been trying to install the groins since 1991, said Nicole Elko, the county's coastal coordinator.
Five of the structures - like "big bean bags," Elko said - will be buried in Upham Beach beginning in November and extend as much as 400 feet into the Gulf of Mexico. They will be made of fabric and used to prevent the sand from drifting southward.
Commissioners expressed worries Tuesday that the groins could prevent sand from flowing to the beaches south of Upham. "There are still some concerns from people that there may be downdrift effects," said Mayor Ward Friszolowski.
But the county has agreed to monthly monitoring of surrounding beaches after the groins are installed. They will be removed if significant sand loss is found.
Groins are a temporary fix, Elko added. "These structures don't create sand," she said.
The project's anticipated cost is $1.6-million - funded by the county and the state, Elko said. The groins cannot be installed until Upham is renourished in July.
More than $10-million in taxpayers' money has been spent on Upham in the past 30 years. This summer's replenishing will cost another $4-million.
