Posted on February 22, 2018
By Tony Judnich, the DESTIN log
Restoration of a portion of beach on Holiday Isle in Destin might begin in mid-March and be completed in early April, according to Okaloosa County officials.
The county plans to provide an estimated $2 million in bed tax money for the project, which calls for placing about 130,000 cubic yards of sand in the severely-eroded Western Destin Reach 1 project area. The Reach 1 area extends from the East Jetty to about 4,000 feet to the east.
County officials are partnering with Destin officials on the restoration work. Destin’s maintenance dredge permit would be used for the project, which would use a dredge that is already in East Pass for the Norriego Point restoration project.
A planned county and city interlocal agreement calls for Destin officials to contract with Dyersburg, Tennessee-based Inland Dredging Co., which would dredge sand from the pass for the Reach 1 area. Inland Dredging is a subcontractor for Norriego Point stabilization project contractor Luhr Bros. of Columbia, Illinois.
The agreement still must be finalized by the commission and the Destin City Council.
“I believe we are very close to finalizing that,” County Administrator John Hofstad told commissioners Tuesday at their meeting in Shalimar.
As part of the agreement, Destin officials must finalize contracts with Inland Dredging and Jacksonville-based Taylor Engineering, which would provide construction management for the beach project.
Okaloosa County Attorney Greg Stewart said the contract with Inland Dredging is still being negotiated, and the agreement should be ready for the commission’s consideration by March 6 at the latest.
Destin City Manager Carisse LeJeune planned to update the City Council on the beach restoration project at the council’s meeting Tuesday night.
Source: the DESTIN log
