County prefers original dump site for dredging

It says in a letter that it isn't ready to abandon the Eagle Nest Drive site.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writer
Published January 10, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Those who have waited seemingly forever for the Hernando Beach Channel to be dredged may have to wait a while longer.

Officials from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection met with Hernando County representatives in December to try to chop through the paperwork that was delaying the project, planned for more than a decade. The main hangup was where to dump the sand and silt hauled from the clogged channel.

The county dropped its first choice, the Eagle Nest Drive site owned by the prominent Manuel family, because neighbors' concerns could stall the project and because the required mitigation for filling in wetlands would be problematic. Instead, Hernando targeted a 4-acre, triangular site bordered by Petit Lane and Shoal Line Boulevard.

County engineers predicted that an expedited permitting process promised by DEP could mean permits would be in hand by February.

But the county has shifted gears once again. In a letter to the DEP late last month, Assistant County Administrator Larry Jennings said the Eagle Nest Drive site is once again the preferred pick.

"We have both invested a substantial amount of effort in the Eagle Nest Drive site and we are not yet ready to abandon" it, the letter reads. "We intend to complete the permitting process or at least take it to a logical conclusion."

Assistant county engineer Gregg Sutton, who has headed up the dredge project, said staff and the county's consultant talked again after the Dec. 7 meeting with the DEP and determined that the county's mitigation plan will satisfy the state.

Jennings' letter also adds that the county is willing to restore the salt marsh along the channel that extends along Eagle Nest Drive as part of the plan.

"Salt marsh restoration from an environmental perspective gets a fairly high score in terms of mitigation," Sutton said.

The county also determined that using the fallback site would require longer pipes and would be more expensive. The mitigation costs would be less than the longer pipeline, Sutton said.

He said that the county has talked with the Manuels about the mitigation since it would take place on their property, but he said the decision to return to the Manuel site was based on conversations between the county and the consultant.

As for the neighbors' concerns, Sutton said Tuesday that the residents have not filed formal complaints. The neighbors have said there is no need to fill fragile wetlands permanently when there are other places to put the spoil, concerns that could have delayed the process for months if not years.

The neighbors cannot file such complaints, Sutton said, until after the state issues a notice that it intends to grant the county permission to use the Eagle Nest Drive site.

If residents file those formal complaints, and if the DEP finds them valid or if the mitigation plan is shot down, Sutton said the county could always return to the fallback site.

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434.

[Last modified January 9, 2008, 21:22:47]