Santa Rosa County will consider $68K for Indian Bayou protection

Santa Rosa County Commissioners will vote Thursday on whether or not to spend an additional $68,000 on measures to protect Indian Bayou, but the potential action still comes up short for a small group with a different vision for the water's future.

The commissioners will decide whether to allocate money from a public works department reserve fund to expand the protected area near the bayou with installation of silt fencing, hay bales and rock dams in roadside ditches.

All of those measures — as part of a plan with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection — will serve as filters against the red clay that seeps into the bayou from area roads and smothers the water's ecosystem.

County officials initially thought the measures would cost $30,000 to $40,000 but later learned they would need to hire a contractor to use a vacuum-type truck to remove sediment from a box culvert adjacent to Interstate 10. That will cost about $34,000, bringing the overall cost to about $68,000, Santa Rosa County Public Works Director Stephen Furman said.

Judy Walker, who lives in the Monterey Shores neighborhood that borders the bayou, addressed the commissioners during their Monday meeting, and encouraged the board to look at returning the land to its natural wetland state. Walker was one of at least four Monterey Shores residents who attended the meeting, but others left the Milton complex as the agenda stretched into the afternoon.

More:Santa Rosa County floats spending $40,000 more to protect Indian Bayou

Additional steps in the county's plan with FDEP will call for paving of county-owned red-clay roads in the area of the bayou, a measure that will prevent additional sediment from infiltrating the water. The county is also working with the Northwest Florida Water Management District for $75,000 of financial assistance to pave three segments of roadways.

Walker said the protection measures in the first phase of the plan, such as the fencing and hay bales, should have been put into place long ago, and she encouraged the commissioners to look at other options for the land. 

"They're not being proactive and looking at the long run," Walker said. 

Will Dunaway, the Pensacola attorney who's lending his experience in environmental law to Walker on a pro-bono basis, asked the board not to promote development in the area and to preserve the "hydrologically connected" wetland, meaning water flows consistently through the system and is retained underground like a sponge.

"If the plan is to develop Avalon estates subdivision, then this is good drainage plan," Dunaway said. "I'm begging you to take the lead. It's your county, it's your land and decide what you're going to do with this area. Wouldn't it be great to connect these lands and be part of the bayou, or will you put in the paving and that will introduce more contamination into the bayou?"

Editorial:Protection welcome, but overdue for Indian Bayou

The majority of the work Santa Rosa has planned will be done by road and bridge department personnel, with the exception of the cleaning out a culvert on San Raphael Street that runs parallel to I-10 on the south side of the interstate.

Bob Cole, chairman of the county commissioners, took an interest in the suggestion of Walker and Dunaway that the county evaluate the Avalon Beach area to find out what other steps the county might be able to enact toward preserving the area.

Cole went so far as to recommend the item be added to a meeting agenda next month.

Dan Schebler, interim county administrator, cautioned Cole that the county might risk a fine from FDEP if it didn't adhere to the plan, leading the commissioner to withdraw his request for study of additional protection measures. 

Dunaway asked why the county could not present a different plan to DEP and water management and ask for assistance in protecting the wetlands, which ought to be a priority for those agencies.

Schebler said after the meeting that "the end-goal objective is the water quality of Indian Bayou and of all of the bays and rivers."

"So I think DEP and the Water Management District, if we're taking any action that improves water quality, they'd be OK with that," he said.

Anne Delaney can be reached at adelaney@pnj.com or 850-435-8522