Beach Restoration Start moved back again

From emeraldcoast.com, 8/4/2006
The Walton County-Destin beach restoration project could be delayed until January 2006.

The project, set to resume Oct. 1, was halted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after four endangered sea turtles were killed during the dredging process in May. More than three miles of beach were left incomplete in Destin and Walton County – one mile of beach in western Walton County and two miles in eastern Destin.

Although the $22 million project is set to resume at the start of the fiscal year, the contractor on the project, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, may not be available until January.

City and county officials say this may work in Destin and Walton County’s advantage since the hurricane season will have ended, sea turtle activity will have slowed, and the threatened Gulf Sturgeon fish species will not be spawning.

However, the restoration project’s outcome is dependent on the Florida Supreme Court as it decides the constitutionality of the project and whether it illegally takes private property from a group of residents near Sandestin.