December 4, 2001
Hi Everyone!
Well, round 6 went well! We had a good day at the County Commission meeting. Our County Commissioner, Cheryl Sanders, was very supportive and agreed with of our concerns. She read a letter that she received from Bob Jones, Executive Director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, and homeowner on Alligator Point. The letter eloquently expressed the concerns of all of us who live on the Point and was read with enthusiasm and conviction by Cheryl. The letter got everyone's attention and then Tammy Summers, Alligator Harbor Aquatic Preserve Manager from the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve spoke regarding the ownership of the submerged lands of the Aquatic Preserve. She had numerous documents to support her opinion and stated that the only way ownership could be decided was by conducting a mean high water survey. The Aquatic Preserve boundary is to the mean high water line throughout the harbor. Our attorney and our environmental specialist were on hand, but it was not necessary for them to speak, as the commission quickly concluded that they could not make any decisions regarding this project as they had no idea how much land the developer really owned and therefore could not determine the accurate and appropriate number of lots to be developed. The developer has agreed to do an abbreviated mean high water survey and plans to present it at the next county commission meeting (Dec 18). I spoke to the developers attorney and informed her that we would need to have a copy of the survey ASAP so that we could have an independent surveyor review it prior to the next commission meeting.
Thanks to everyone for the phone calls and for attending the meeting!
Keep your fingers crossed for round 7!
Vicki
