RESTORE pitches begin

Having whittled the list of projects vying for local RESTORE dollars down to a manageable 62, the Escambia County RESTORE Advisory Committee heard from about half the hopeful applicants during its Dec. 9 meeting.

Applicants were allowed three minutes each to pitch their respective projects, as well as an opportunity to field questions from committee members. The presentations were environmental-heavy, with some infrastructure and economic development-related projects also in the mix.

The meeting got off to an awkward start, when one project applicant realized that she had not made the committee’s top-62 cut, and thus was not invited to make a verbal presentation. She left in tears.

“I apologize for that misunderstanding,” RESTORE committee Vice Chairman Alan McMillan told her after county staff cleared up the confusion.

The first project presented to the committee was Project Universal Access. That project has received an overall average score of 56 by the committee (for comparison, the top-ranking project received an average of 65.45).

Project Universal Access would involve an American with Disability Act (ADA) evaluation of targeted sites (like the beach), to determine how areas could be made more accessible. The project features a design, as well as implementation phase and a more than $3 million price tag.

That number was hurdle for some committee members. Sherri Myers, making the presentation for the project, was quick to point out that the figure was fluid — “I guessed at that.”

“Don’t place a lot of emphasis on the $3 million,” Myers told the committee. “That was a wild guess.”
Myers, who serves as a Pensacola City Councilwoman, stressed that the proposed ADA assessment, design and implementation was needed and would benefit the area.

“The benefits are more people are going to be able to access beaches, fishing piers and all public facilities,” she said.

The committee next heard from proponents of the White Island Restoration Project, which has a committee average score of 55.11. And about the Pensacola Beach Dune Walkover Replacements project, with its 48.90 score.

Brian Clark then told the committee about his Lionfish Commercialization and Harvest project. It aims to increase awareness, as well as harvest and consumption of the environmental invasive species currently threatening Gulf waters.

“At this point the reefs are overrun with them,” Clark explained, describing Pensacola as “the center of the universe as far as lionfish are concerned.”

Lionfish eat pretty much everything, but because they are venomous nothing can eat them. There’s an effort to cut their exploding numbers by promoting the fish both on the seafood market as well as within the dive tourism industry.

“If we don’t do something about it,” Clark said, “we’re looking at an ecological disaster of Biblical proportions.”

The RESTORE committee also heard from multiple projects submitted by Escambia County staff. There was the Sunset Island Sawgrass Restoration project (44.70), and the Forest Creek Apartment Complex Acquisition/Demolition and Jones Creek Floodplain Restoration project (43.10). And the Perdido Key Gulf of Mexico Access (57.10) and the Escambia County Large Vessel Reef project (43.00).

There was also the Escambia Wood Treating Superfund Redevelopment Master Plan project, with its 43.10 average score.

“I scored this project very high, because I’ve been hearing about it for 10 years,” said committee member Don McMahon, who pulled the project’s overall average up by awarding its highest score by far of 81.

The project, at an estimated cost of $500,000, aims to map out a master plan for the Superfund site (deemed clean by the EPA) and pave the way for its future as a commerce park. McMahon said the effort would help in attracting private sector business and had “a real upside on the return on investment.”

The RESTORE committee went on the hear projects related to habitat restoration, the cultivation of heritage and infrastructure developments. They’ll hear from another 30-plus such in January.
McMillan advised committee members that they could alter their recently given scores for the respective projects if their assessments changed after hearing a particular presentation.

While the top 62 projects have secured verbal presentations before the RESTORE committee, the ultimate decision of which ones receive funding (Escambia is set to receive an estimated $69 million over the course of 17 years) lies with the Escambia County Board of Commissioners.

The commissioners and the RESTORE committee will hold a joint meeting in February. While the county officials will take their advisory board’s assessments into account they will ultimately be considering the entire field of the 124 applicants who have proposed projects for RESTORE dollars.

Details on the entire field of submitted projects may be found at www.myescambia.com/restore.