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iCounty must provide matching to get emergency beach funds
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BY DENA BISNETTE Hancock County may be able to obtain emergency funding for beach repair through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers if matching funds are available.
According to Robert Martin, study :	manager	for	the	Corps? Mobile, Ala.,
District, the county?s eligibility for $250,000 in funding depends on the
-	degree of emergency found to exist with regard to shoreline erosion and danger to public property.
In addition, the amount would f have to be sufficient for development of some type of repair project, Martin added.
The Mobile district is planning to send representatives to Hancock County within the next few weeks to assess the condition of the t' beachfront, since the Corps has not J looked at the situation since before the 1985 hurricane season.
To get the funding, the county would have to provide a minimum of
Supervisors Sam Pemiciaro and A.A. Kellar bpttT said that anticipated funding cuts make them less in favor of spending money on the two-year study than when it was first discussed. Both, however, said the emergency funding may be something the county can use.
??If there is any way possible I would like to see the beach repaired, but we can?t jeopardize the whole county's finances,? Pemiciaro said.
?We need to take a long, close look , at this.?
He said he would be particularly interested in obtaining the emergency funding if the county could provide some of the repair work rather than contracting for the entire project.
If the county provides some of the work, the $250,000 could be stretched to include more of the seawall.
Kellar said he has become hesitant about putting up the $77,000 and $85,000 for the two parts of the longterm study because, even after the study is completed, the county will not be guaranteed any funding for a reconstruction project.
?I know something has got to be done down there, but I can?t see taking chances with money for a study that can?t guarantee us anything," he explained.
?The government could make money available today and take it away tomorrow.?
He said he is in favor of trying to obtain the $250,000 in emergency
25 percent of the construction cost.
Some of the county?s share would be in-kind funding through the providing of any necessary easements, rights-of-way and relocations. On top of those costs, five percent of the total project cost would still have to be provided by local money.
In addition, the $250,000 limit would keep the project from covering an extensive amount of beachfront, Martin added.
?We would probably not be dealing with an old problem. If the study indicates that a project could be developed, we would be dealing with only those areas where the most damage appears to have been done,? he explained.
?We are still looking at a project that would cover the whole shoreline,? said Martin, referring to a long-term solution for shore protection problems.
That study and its funding, unlike the emergency funding, would have
to be approved by Congress.
The first part of the two-part study has been approved for funding with money set aside for water management research that was never done, Martin said.
Matching funds of $77,000 for the first year of the study and $65,000 for the second year will be required of the county If the long-term project is carried out, according to James Head, director of Gulf Regional Planning Commission.
Martin said the Corps plans to work with the county through the commission on both the emergency funding and the long-term project, which involves a two-year study that is expected to eventually lead to a full-scale redesign of the beachfront.
Head said the long-term study could begin as early as March if the matching funds are approved.
He added that he had taken an informal poll of members of the board BEACH?Page 10A
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Courrege said he hopes that seawall tax funds can be used to provide matching money, possibly for both the emergency repairs and the long-term study.
The county receives about $500,000 per year in seawall taxes, originally set aside for seawall maintenance, but those funds were diverted a number of years ago to pay off bonds for the county port and harbor.
Courrege said he feels that the board is interested in paying off the remaining bond indebtedness early,
but expects some^ discussion on whether or not toijise all of the seawall tax money for maintenance of the beach and beach road.
He feels repairing the beachfront is crucial and could generate more funds for the county.
?A lot of our county and city monies come from the tourist trade and the seafood industry that the beach and Beach Road have generated,? Courrege said.
?If we don?t keep up the seawall and beach we will lose a lot of other revenues, like the school taxes that the cities get.?
?You have to spend money to make money. We can?t neglect the beach because its a money making proposition for this county and its cities.?
I
He added that using the seawall tax to maintain the bfeaeh could help alleviate the financi&strain that the county and individual beats have been experiencing while repairing
hurricane damage.
Courrege said one of the first things he would like to see done with the emergency funding if it can be v_. obtained would be to have Beach Road sounded to locate voids and ap- Wt ply pressure grouting to fill the ?*'
worst ones.	fj,
Ladner said the county presently t has its attorneys looking into the possibility of repaying the port and ? harbor bonds in order to divert the seawall funds back to their original
) purpose.	koq
He said the county apparently has.J^ about $200,000 more than the amount required for the bonds.	Cq
Ladner said he feels it is too early.; to decide whether or not all of the^j seawall tax money should be usedo. for beach maintenance. However, h^j is in favor of repairing the road and5? the beach'itself where the sand needed for shore protection. ..
He said*he feels all the' boar members are interested in' payin off the bonds, but because the countf is faced with the loss of federl revenue sharing funds and other cuts, there could be a* number of needs for the seawall tax in. addition to beach maintenance. ^	?.