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Panel looks to outside sources for Norriego Point funding
One idea the TDC has discussed, while still addressing the protection and stabilization of Norriego Point, was constructing an aquatic reserve or a snorkeling park.
“It could be a really beautiful amenity for this area,” Okaloosa County coastal manager Jim Trifillio said.
TDC Executive Director Mark Bellinger said the key is to combine conservation with recreation, in an attempt to bring more people to Destin. He said the aquatic reserve/snorkeling park concept has been implemented in similar settings around the country.
With multiple avenues of potential funding opening up, Destin might find a little more bulk in its wallet as it looks for viable solutions to protect and stabilize Norriego Point from continual erosion.
“I’m very, very emotionally tied to this project,” Mayor Sam Seevers told the city’s blue ribbon panel, which has been tasked with providing solutions to the point’s problems. “I think it’s one of the most important things we are going to do for our city.”
TO READ ABOUT BOAT PARKING ON NORRIEGO POINT, CLICK HERE.
During the panel’s July 12 meeting, Seevers along with representatives from the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council were on hand to share two main sources of funding that could be taken advantage of — the Natural Resources Damage Assessment funding (NRDA) and Section 204 funding.
The NRDA funding ($1 billion) was provided to the federal government by BP to protect the environment and to do projects that would help maintain beaches and protect barrier islands, Seevers told the panel. The city applied for NRDA funds in February through a grant application.
Half of the money would be divided up between the impacted states from the Gulf oil spill, then the other half dolled out courtesy of the Department of the Interior, Department of Justice and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Seevers said.
Jim Trifillio, coastal manager/coordinator with the Okaloosa County TDC, says the Army Corps of Engineers Section 204 funding is another avenue the city should look toward.
In a nutshell, Section 204 funding is geared toward “the beneficial use of dredge material.” Trifillio said the county has been progressing on the legwork of the program and that the federal government could fund up to $5 million of the study.
If an agreement on a project could be made with stakeholders and the Corps of Engineers, the project would have an additional $5 million made available for construction and project implementation, which would have to be matched locally with only 35 percent of the funding.
“This is a wonderful opportunity given the situation that you are in right now,” Trifillio said. “I can’t say this can happen overnight… however, since there has been so much work done on this inlet, there is an opportunity for the corps to accelerate this study.”
As part of a potential project, Trifilliio says the city should consider as many options as possible to make the project more appealing to the corps. He said it typically comes down to a “cost/benefit analysis.”
“The more boxes you can check off, that’s what they want to see for a Section 204,” he said. Trifillio added the projects should address upland protection, habitat restoration and aquatic restoration.
For panel member Capt. Mike Eller, the key is to have adequate protection for the point, while still trying to maintain some of the recreational appeal. Eller wants to “keep it simple.”
“I think we can do all of these things very simply… people are going to figure out how to use that area for recreation,” he said. “Everything we need is laid out in front of us, we just need to put it together and make it come to fruition.”
