During the most recent CDD Meeting, I made the request for a one on one meeting to Chairman Curley. He accepted my offer after being advised by our District counsel that such one-on-one meetings between 2 Board members have been used by public officials operating under the Sunshine restrictions to iron out disagreements or reach a general understanding of a difficult or complex issue.

I was greatly encouraged by the agreement to a meeting, since I believed I had obtained new and important information from a professional engineer that offered the possibility of a seawall repair meeting the requirements of reliably stabilizing the wall at a reasonable cost—at least comparable to what we already know about the rip-rap repair.

This information had to be acquired quickly and only recently. It also would avoid the pitfalls of unfunded liabilities for the proposed Langan design yet to be designated. This meeting also had the potential to allow the Board to avoid the costly “proof of concept” trial plot yet to be designated. Furthermore, this meeting could have provided a model for conflict resolution for Board Supervisors considering future, contentious issues.
There was everything to be gained from such a public meeting and nothing to lose.
It is unfortunate that the Chairman of the CDD Board elected to cancel the meeting for reasons that are unspecified and unclear to me. Allowing this meeting to happen would have given the chairman an opportunity to meet with a different engineering firm—with Langan there to hear what they have to say—to possibly see that there is another viable solution that is more cost effective than the solutions we currently have.

Canceling the meeting without further discussion also dismisses any opportunity that might have garnered a better fix, possibly for less money, and eliminated all the unknown liabilities as well as put an end to the lawsuit. It is critical that the Board avail itself of design information to achieve a completely informed solution to the seawall repair that benefits the entire community. As we all know, this Board decision will live on for years, affecting our lives, well into the future of our Community.

I will continue to strive for this and other more cost effective solutions and bring it to the  Mira Bay Community and my peers on the CDD Board attention.

R~Tim N