BROOKSVILLE — Despite public concerns about spending some of the roughly $6 million that remains in the county’s environmentally sensitive lands fund, the Hernando County Commission this week unanimously approved using the money to dredge near the Hunter’s Lake boat ramp in Spring Hill and to replace the fishing pier at Bayport.
7 Months Ago
8 Months Ago
7 Months Ago
The issues were brought forward by Commissioner Wayne Dukes earlier this year.
Hunter’s Lake has been plagued by floating mats of vegetation called tussocks, and the county and state are already moving ahead with plans to remove those. But an opinion by assistant county attorney Joe DiNovo determined that dredging into the lake to allow better access by boats did not meet the criteria for using the money.
Dukes argued that the work was not dredging, but simply vacuuming the sediment at the bottom of the approach to the lake at the boat ramp. Hernando Beach resident Vicki Anderson spoke up, saying that dredging was sediment removal.
The work is expected to cost approximately $275,000.
DeeVon Quirolo, of Nature Coast Conservation and the local chapter of the Sierra Club, argued that spending the environmentally sensitive lands money was not appropriate for the two projects, especially with the opinion expressed by the county attorney’s office. Dredging at the lake, she noted, would remove part of the food chain and have a negative effect on the sensitive nature of the lake.
DiNovo told commissioners it was ultimately up to them to decide whether the project met the appropriate criteria.
The pier at Bayport was damaged during Hurricane Hermine and has been closed since September. Commissioners said they wanted to see it open soon and agreed to an $80,000 allocation to replace the structure with a similar pier. A more modern version would have cost several million dollars, but no commissioner voiced any interest in that option.
Commissioners also didn’t want to simply repair the old dock, which would have cost about half as much.
"It’s a very popular area,” said Commissioner John Allocco, indicating he didn’t want it to simply be patched.
Dukes has said that most of the funds could be replaced when the county receives its reimbursement check for storm damage from the federal government. But he has also noted that commissioners will make that decision, and the motion approved this week did not require that the funds be paid back.
Lynn Gruber-White, president of the Ridge Manor Property Owners Association, said her members objected to the expenditure. The work does not meet any of the criteria for environmentally sensitive lands, she argued. Using the funds for such a purpose would mean using up a finite fund when there are other needs that meet the criteria.
Dukes argued that Bayport had already been declared environmentally sensitive several years ago when the now-defunct Environmentally Sensitive Lands Committee spent money there to build an aluminum deck, a picnic area and rest rooms.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
