By Jeremy Morrison
Fresh from his trip to Washington D.C. last week pitching the Pensacola & Perdido Bay Estuary Program, Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson sounded optimistic.
“I think that is an incredible program,” Robinson said during his weekly press conference Monday morning.
Mayor Robinson traveled to D.C. with Matt Posner, director of the PPBEP, to try to secure the local estuary program a national designation as part of the National Estuary Program. It’s a heavy lift — there are only 28 such designated estuaries, and it’s been a while since a designation was assigned — but it would guarantee the local program’s annual funding.
“I know it’s been a while since they’ve added a new one, and we hope the newest one will be the Pensacola and Perdido Bay estuary plan, and we’ve been working on getting that designation,” Robinson said.
Mayor Robinson stressed the importance of the local estuary program, which encompasses areas in both Florida and Alabama, and involves numerous jurisdictions, and said it is integral in formulating a region-wide plan to improve conditions in the watershed.
“Why is it so important? There are nine different jurisdictions, local jurisdictions that are working together collaboratively,” he said. “The idea of the estuary plan is it takes the politics out of ‘what are the solutions for our waterways?” and deals with what’s scientifically there.”
Poo Beach?
Back in Pensacola, the city is wrestling with a very particular waterway issue: determining the source of sewage infiltrating the stormwater system and making its way to the waters off Bruce Beach, where the city is engaged in an $8 million improvement project designed to make the municipal waterfront more accessible.
“Certainly, we have some challenges there with the environment,” Robinson acknowledged Monday.
The city was alerted to the presence of human waste at Bruce Beach — a sign that wastewater is infiltrating the stormwater system — in the spring and has since been working with the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority to determine the source of the infiltration.
Mayor Robinson said that the three governmental facilities — city hall, the courthouse and the Chappie James governmental building — in the area of concern have been assessed and that the infiltration is not occurring at those sites.
“We tested those; those are not where the problem is coming from,” the mayor said.
Amy Tootle, the city’s director of Public Works and Facilities and the point person for this effort, said that the city is currently working with ECUA to determine the next steps in determining the pollution source.
“We’ve done the work on the three governmental buildings, and we’re showing that there were no illicit connections. So, now the next step is we’re in the process of formulating the next plan to try then to figure out where the source of the bacteria is coming from,” Tootle said. “It’s going to be a multi-phased approach trying to figure it out, whether it’s cameras, whether it’s detergent testing — there’s probably going to b a bunch of things that we will be doing trying to source it out.”
Tootle said that this effort has been slowed due to illnesses on both the city and ECUA sides of the equation and also has proven challenging because of the area’s proximity to the shoreline.
“You have to do testing during certain times because of the tidal influence,” Tootle explained.
While Tottle said she could not offer a timeframe for this project — “I can’t give you an exact timeframe, because we do not know where it’s at” — Mayor Robinson said he was confident that the city and ECUA could wrap it up by the time the work on Bruce Beach was finished up.
“Certainly, construction down there at the park is going to take a year, a year-plus,” Robinson said, adding that he felt that should be enough time to determine and deal with this wastewater infiltration issue.
No Home for Camping?
The city of Pensacola has been focused on the issue of homelessness for quite a while now, with efforts over the past year focused on getting more facilities with bed space online. Officials with Escambia County, specifically Commissioner Jeff Bergosh, also have some thoughts on this topic, though it remains to be seen if they will jive with the city’s efforts.
“I know Commissioner Bergosh has his idea that he wants to create a camp up in Molino,” Robinson noted Monday. “I just don’t think that’s necessarily workable.”
The mayor said he wasn’t sure that a camp-like scenario would be beneficial, especially out in the county, where he wasn’t sure people would want to locate.
“I don’t know if you’re going to get people who necessarily want to go do that, in that direction, and be in Cantonment,” he said. “If they want to go pursue that, they’re welcome to.”
The mayor said a joint meeting between city and county officials is currently being arranged and should occur “in the next month or so.”
Recycled/De-cycled
While city sanitation customers have continued to separate their recyclables from regular trash, placing the materials in a separate can for pick-up, the city has not been recycling the material due to repairs being performed on the recycling facility operated by ECUA.
“It’s very challenging, and we’re not happy,” Mayor Robinson said Monday, explaining that ECUA is working to get the facility up and running again, with an expected completion date of Sept. 9.
Robinson said that while it’s been frustrating not being able to actually recycle the city’s recyclables, a decision was made not to pursue another outlet because of the time involved in doing so and the fact that ECUA is a local option.
“For us to try to pull the contract with ECUA and go do something with somebody else — by the time we did the contract, we’d turn around and be right back at ECUA,” Robinson said. “And I think the experience the city experienced last time, certainly as the recycling market dropped, it’s good to have somebody like ECUA, a governmental entity, that is working with us to deal with our recyclables. I think it’s much better; it puts us in less limbo.”