Southpinellas: Beaches' pain turns to gain

Beaches' pain turns to gain

Beach cities will be peppered with perks, thanks to $2.5-million worth of the settlement from a 1993 oil spill.

By AMY WIMMER

If you had planned to swim, fish, boat or sunbathe in August or September 1993, chances are you couldn't.

An oil spill Aug. 10 of that year left a big mess. Recreational boats' access to Boca Ciega Bay was cut off by waterway closures, absorbent booms and other cleanup activity. Cleanup on the beaches themselves kept visitors away for three weeks, and some tourists canceled their trips altogether.

For your trouble, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection say you are owed something.

The agencies reached an $8-million settlement two years ago with the three companies responsible for the boat collision that caused a spectacular inferno at the mouth of Tampa Bay and ultimately pushed oil onto the Pinellas shores.

Most of that money went toward revitalizing natural resources affected by the spill. But $2.5-million was set aside for the people who use those resources, and city governments have been lining up since the spill, curious to see which projects would be deemed most beneficial to those who missed out on fun in the sun seven years ago.

On Friday, NOAA and the DEP announced that 14 projects will divvy up the money.

One surprise: Although officials had expressed an interest in purchasing more waterfront properties to improve access to the beaches, they decided that beach property has become so expensive that funding several less expensive projects would be a better alternative.

"I was pleased to see that NOAA did not go with the property acquisitions," said Carl Schwing, the city manager of St. Pete Beach, where five projects received funding. "To try and do any property acquisition on this, they would have taken more money out of the pot."

Just buying one property that Indian Shores had requested, for example, would have swallowed 20 percent of the available money.

"It was a balancing choice," said John Iliff of NOAA, who was on the team of government officials who recommended which projects should be funded. "We had to be responsive to public comments."

These projects received funding. The costs are totals except in St. Pete Beach, where officials agreed to pay 25 percent of each project:

Blind Pass Park Fishing Pier. This will be a new pier at the St. Pete Beach city park at 9300 Blind Pass Road. Project cost: $85,000.

Seventh Avenue Fishing Pier. This pier in St. Pete Beach was in disrepair before hurricane season last year. Hurricane Gordon forced its closure since then. Cost: $134,000.

Both of the piers will be built with lumber made of recycled plastic, which should increase their durability.

Boardwalk, Indian Rocks Nature Preserve. The oil spill money will pay for 1,020 feet of boardwalk through the city's nature preserve, a mangrove habitat. The end of the boardwalk will provide a view of the Intracoastal Waterway. Cost: $185,000.

New walkway and walkover for existing beach access point at Central Avenue in Indian Rocks Beach. This will improve pedestrian and emergency vehicle access to the beach.

A new concrete walkway will connect the parking lot to a new dune walkover. Cost: $40,500.

Replacement of four dune crossovers in Indian Shores. The new crossover will be higher than the existing ones, allowing for better dune habitat to develop. The crossovers will be built at 197th, 196th, 193rd and 190th avenues.

The crossover at 193rd Avenue also will be a vehicle ramp that can be used by emergency vehicles and the Indian Shores Fire Department's rescue boat. The new crossovers also will be handicap-accessible. Cost: $32,000.

A new boardwalk and fishing pier at the Park Street Boat Ramp. The county ramp, near the Park Street Bridge, will have a 470-foot elevated boardwalk ending at a new fishing pier underneath the bridge. Cost: $94,000.

Three beach access boardwalks in Redington Beach. These beach access points are at 163rd, 162nd and 158th avenues. The existing boardwalks are "warped and buckled, making access for the physically disabled difficult," according to the report from NOAA and the DEP.

The new walkovers will be built with lumber made of recycled plastic. Cost: $69,600.

The Madeira Beach Causeway Shoreline Restoration Park. The park, on the west side of the Tom Stuart Causeway and the north side of State Road 666, is a passive recreational park.

The oil settlement money will pay for boardwalks that take visitors to several educational displays and walk them along the shoreline. The money also will go toward planting mangroves, building two new fishing piers and adding native plants like live oaks and cabbage palms. Cost: $400,000.

Treasure Island boardwalks. The existing boardwalk will be expanded north by about 3,800 feet and south by about 4,000 feet, stretching the city's boardwalk from 97th to 127th avenues. The wide concrete walkways will meander through sand dunes. Cost: $380,000.

Upham Beach boardwalk. This new project will connect the seaward ends of three existing dune walkovers. Cost: $181,500.

Gulf Way Beach Walkway in Pass-a-Grille. This concrete walkway will extend an eight-block-long boardwalk along Gulf Way, the street that runs along the Pass-a-Grille waterfront.

The lighted walkway will run north to 23rd Avenue, or the entire length of Gulf Way. Cost: $232,000.

Replacement of St. Pete Beach City Boat Ramp near the Don CeSar. This deteriorated concrete boat ramp will be replaced with a prefabricated ramp with a non-slip surface.

Boat owners who use the current ramp risk damage to their trailers, according to the NOAA and DEP report. Cost: $120,000.

Sunset Vista Trailhead Park in Treasure Island. The oil spill money will restore the beach dunes, create beach access,and provide dune vegetation, observation decks, paths and walkways at the 97th Avenue park. Cost: $225,000.

Oyster reef at Pinellas County's War Veterans Memorial Park. This project will compensate recreational fishermen for the oil's effect on fish habitats, NOAA and DEP officials hope.

Fossilized oyster shell will be placed in "strategic places" using a shallow barge. The reef will help support fish and reduce wave energy in the area, protecting the shoreline from erosion. Cost: $300,000.