1. The Environmental Council
Most of the March meeting was taken up with discussion of the original purpose of the E-Council, which is to serve as an umbrella group for people with environmental concerns. This was the intention of E-Council founder Dr. Walter Boardman. To this end, a meeting is being organized which will invite environmental workers and spokespersons for environmental interest groups to present their concerns and goals and provide help to set an effective course of action. For information e-mail Brynn Newton at BrynnG@aol.com .
Bob Haviland has established a web page for the E-Council: http://home.iag.net/~ecouncil.
Right now what is on it are the Issues and Views from the last two years.
We hope it will be a central point for environmental advocates to e-mail
the webmaster and ask to add info. Besides statements on environmental
issues it will monitor voting records of policy makers. This web page cannot
be brought up on Google or Yahoo. You must type it in the URL screen of
your own server. If there is enough interest, we will purchase a www domain
site.
2. Beach Presentation
Bob Haviland has prepared a CD- ROM presentation for the County on the
condition of the Beach, past, present and future. We will be asking for
a time slot at a County Council meeting.
3. Erosion
A County and State sponsored study of erosion problems on South Volusia Beaches from Ponce Inlet to Bethune Beach was conducted by Taylor Engineering of Jacksonville. It's the first step in securing some of the $30 million the state allocates for beach restoration every year. They are trying to answer the question of why New Smyrna's beaches are building up in the north and eroding in the south. The beach is a very complicated system. Wind, currents and the jetty all play a part. We think erosion will worsen with the south jetty extension because sand will be further out and unable to reach the beach. Beach property owners want the study to go beyond renourishment and dune stabilization and include hard armoring; however, state regulations discourage building seawalls. E-Council's essay on sea walls was submitted to the New-Journal as an editorial.
A healthy dune system is the best line of defense against a storm. A
renourished beach is a big pile of sand and a pile of sand is not a dune
and does not have the interlocking molecular structure of a natural wind
created dune. Renourished beaches inevitably end up in the ocean.
4. Volusia Toll Road
Sometimes budget shortfalls are a blessing; they can put the breaks
on damaging projects. The $700 million pricetag ended the threat of this
boondoggle - for now. How can a stake be driven through its heart? Volusia
County is a maze of productive wetlands. Policy makers should respect this
reality and accept the fact that a great deal of it should not be developed.
Roads through wetlands are asking for trouble.
5. St. JohnsRiver
Paul Haydt is leading a Water Management District study of the Northern Coastal Basin of the St. Johns River - all the land that drains to the ocean. They are preparing high resolution pictures of stormwater treatment facilities. The goal is to retrofit all stormwater outfalls. It would entail digging up roads and installing pipes leading water to treatment basins which would be jet-aerated to prevent stagnation and algae growth.