Navarre Beach Renourishment Project Information

Navarre Beach visitors, residents, leaseholders and interested parties are invited to attend a free Sea Turtle Friendly Beach program provided jointly by Santa Rosa County, SeaGrant and Coastal Tech staff. The program will be at the Navarre Beach fishing pier building on the night of June 14 at 7:30 pm. During this program staff will discuss actions they can be taken to improve the sea turtle environment on Navarre Beach.

May 10, 2007

SEA TURTLE LIGHTING SURVEYS

Please be informed that the permit issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for the Navarre Beach Dune Restoration Project required a sea turtle lighting survey of the Navarre Beach area. This survey was conducted in March of this year and has been forwarded to our department for follow through.

During sea turtle season (May 1 to Oct. 31), lights illuminating the beach can disrupt sea turtle nesting and hatching. Monitoring data has shown that adult sea turtles nest more frequently on dark beaches than lighted beach areas. Lights shining on the beach have also been found to cause hatchlings to disorient and crawl towards the light source, away from the Gulf. Disoriented hatchlings often end up in swimming pools, parking lots, and roads. Lost sea turtles are more likely to dehydrate or become prey to crabs, ants, birds, or other creatures.

Based on the survey conducted, it has been found that your property has lights that can be seen from the beach berm and would be in violation of the Santa Rosa County Land Development Code, Article 12, Section 12.14.04, if illuminated between May 1 and October 31.

Attached is a report that identifies the light type, intensity, and location of the light that is out of compliance. You have 30 days to either disconnect or modify the lights as defined in the report. We have listed below several general steps that you can take to help us reduce sea turtle disorientations during sea turtle nesting season (May 1-October 31).

We would also like to invite you to a free Sea Turtle Friendly Beach program provided jointly by Santa Rosa County, SeaGrant and Coastal Tech staff. The program will be at the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier Building on the night of June 14, 2007 at 7:30 pm. During this program we will discuss with property owners actions they can take to improve the sea turtle environment on Navarre Beach.

Should you have any questions, please give us a call at (850) 936-6110 or (850) 936-6111.

Dredging is scheduled to be completed in three weeks with vegetation planting to follow.

The USACE has issued a permit modification authorizing 5 additional days of hopper dredging to close the gap in the dunes between Summerwinds and Holiday Inn.

Dredging operations have been suspended indefinitely due to a turtle take in the nets of the turtle relocation trawler. The USACE has been notified.

The Lindholm has been unable to fix the problem w/steering. The Lindolm will commence operations with one (1) forward engine to complete the dredge cycle. A tugboat will assist the Lindolm at the mono buoy connection near shore during pump-out.

Dredging operations were suspended Thursday night due to mechanical problems on the Lindholm. Repairs are underway.

The USACE has issued a permit modification authorizing 10 days of hopper dredging to close the gap in the dunes between Summerwinds and Navarre Towers. Weeks Marine Inc. is slated to resume dredging later this evening.

The Navarre Beach Dune Restoration project has been shut down indefinitely due to a loggerhead turtle take early this morning.

06/19/2006

Dredge operations resumed on the Navarre project (~12:00 CDT, Saturday, 6/17). There is "...strong likelihood that the take of another sea turtle by either of the hopper dredges on this project will result in the project being suspended for the remainder of the fiscal year."

The new proposed MSBU assessments are an alternative to the original assessments presented to the board on May 11, 2006. These assessments are based on dwelling count, lot size, and beach front footage.

The continuation of the May 11th hearing will be June 8, 2006 at 9:30 a.m. in the Board Meeting Room located in the County’s Administrative Complex – 6495 Caroline Street, in Milton.

For more information on the work session you may call Mr. Ravella at 512-236-9494 or e-mail him at pravella@coastaltechcorp.com.

The Navarre Beach dune restoration project has suspended dredging operations as required by their Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) permit due to a sea turtle take earlier today. The ACOE is in the process of conducting a risk assessment on dredging data being provided by Weeks Marine (the county's dredging contractor) and the ACOE will make a determination on if and when dredging operations can resume.

Navarre Beach Dune Restoration Project

This a thirteen plus million dollar joint County & State project to renourish the entire length of Navarre Beach including the State Park.

The 2.4 million cubic yards of beach compatible material will be dredged from a borrow area four miles offshore and barged, pumped, and shaped to provide a 200 foot wide beach topped with a fourteen foot high vegetated dune system.

Notice to Proceed was issued in Dec 2005 with completion in June 2006. Dredging is slated to commence in March 2006. A change order is being reviewed to increase the project by 500 thousand cubic yards and add additional days to the original contract which will move completion into July.

Santa Rosa County has been pursuing this project for over five years and has obtained all required permits, public notices and regulatory clearances that will allow the project to proceed. We are working closely with state and federal agencies and our consultant (Coastal Tech).

The Board of County Commissioners has adopted an MSBU to fund the County’s 50% match with the State programmed to fund the balance. The final assessments for each participant will be adopted in April 2006. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will contribute $2.125 million from their disaster funds plus 50% of the original project. The State Park will fund 100% of the material costs to renourish their portion of the beach. This project will restore the beach to pre-Ivan conditions and implement the original pre-Ivan renourishment design template.