Nature Coast aquatic preserve boundary

1:10:14Thank you. Appreciate that. The the next issue. So back in uh twenty twenty uh An aquatic preserve was created uh to uh include the nature coast. We are technically part Pasco County is technically part of the nature coast, which is Citrus, Hernando, and Pasco County. Um but um what seemed well intended, this was uh an issue that was uh being pushed by Citrus County uh and a little

1:10:44bit of Hernando County. um to help protect uh some of their uh waterways uh uh in the in the gulf. Um could have a negative impact on us. We didn't really have an the ability to be at the table and part of that discussion. One commissioner who worked that really hard and I'm gonna let him explain a little bit more is Commissioner Mariano.

1:11:11So when this bill was going through uh Mrs. Samson Manson uh Masula. Representative and and when Representative Mariano was up there, they had a very good relationship. When this bill came forward Uh she talked with him. I had like three conversations with him. And what it is is for example like say Signal Code Leisure Beach, they've got one section where from marker twelve thirteen, we could do a connection that would get them up to the Hudson Channel. Real easy, real simple. Um and we warned

1:11:41him that if you do this bill, you're gonna make it hard for us to go apply for a permit and get that done. Um again he wouldn't do it. Um We got some other issues too. We're trying to like make some connections that could work. Yeah. You know, had they even just put the line outside. Of a certain area, that'd have been okay. I think it's hard to like start a build that way. Because if you try to start it that way then you gotta get specifics. If we just say take us out of it, let us re look at it Let us get these things done, so be it. But Literally

1:12:11there's a few compromised positions that we could work with that we could get to the end effect, but if we could start with the build this way Let us get it rolling, just take us out of it 'cause we didn't ask to be in it. And for someone from Lake County, not even on the water, to loop us in with these two counties without any further without any advanced notification, I thought was terrible. And when The vote was like total vote was like one forty six to one. Representative Mariano stood her ground to say it was a bad bill for us. But I literally I couldn't get

1:12:42traction because he was pretty prominent, pretty influential to the power groups that were up there that he kept it he kept it intact. And it and it sounded great for everybody. Oh why wouldn't we want to be an aquatic reserve? But the restrictions that go in there And give an example, Leisure Beach Channel, when it goes out, it's a narrow channel number one. When it goes out at low tide it stops to a foot and it doesn't go as far as Hudson Channel. If I can connect to Hudson Channel, I don't have to worry about doing the further dredging of Leisure Beach Channel. I just make them connect out It's

1:13:12better for everybody, it's better for the environment 'cause the amount of prop scares go out there We actually this bill is actually creating more prop scars because people get stuck in low tide situations, they can't get out hiking. Expenses, et cetera, it's just not safe.

1:13:25I'm I'm pretty sure as well that um, you know, we're working on a big dredge project for the coast of Pasco and uh this affects the dredge for Gulf Harbors because we can't do a little piece of it uh on the channel that that um where we where we need to because now it's in this aquatic preserve. So we're like five feet in and it m messes up the the dredge. So I we didn't have enough time to really analyze what the voter impacts were to Pasco County and it's it's

1:13:55just too much for us. We can't we can't dredge our channels.

1:13:59I

1:13:59I

1:13:59always thought Pasco was part of South Coast and not nature coast.

1:14:03Yeah, I don't know why

1:14:04the whole county's a lot of things.

1:14:05Arapeka North, they can add Arapica and

1:14:10They had us in for years ago without the sports without the sports coach. Yes.

1:14:17But yeah, so if we could just get that line looked at, that would be very helpful.

1:14:21And I'd be happy to meet with any anyone along the groups to go and I I would happy to do that if you have people that you think are in the right position to talk to, I'm happy to to say it. I think it's uh so is a good concept to try to do it but the way they implemented it. Uh and I asked for just even the certain areas to go put it in a way where it's like further out. But they didn't want to hear any of it and he just he

1:14:42kept talking about Center Goliath is the one center that covers all of Central Fernando and northern Ask.

1:14:55Yeah and and and I'll tell you as far as like working with water quality, what's what we try to do is make it as clean as we can. Uh I had pushed for part two money in the Gulf Consortium, work with Regional Planning Council, which includes Citrus and Hernando, to actually go out there and put like baffle boxes, like you heard Grandy Fine talk about the uh baffle boxes over in uh Indian River. There's a bad water body. Because the Tampa Bay Estuary just takes care of Tampa Bay Estuary. We had to partner with the estuary and regional planning council to put it together. We got eight and a half million dollars right now. to

1:15:25go fix water quality going out there. So we're we're fully, you know, focused on water quality, but this bill right here keeps us from making it better for our citizens. But I don't remember what chairs it always

1:15:37I

1:15:37remember the

1:15:38big I don't think. Back side. I've got I have to go. Yeah, but that's something that represented the anger. He's in the voting world. Yeah. Anybody would know that he would be a good one. Since he's not here, I'm gonna throw it all on him. You get to tell him. You may see him every now.

1:16:03But I can't remember there was something about that though, but I don't I don't think there was something back there.

1:16:10Sorry. No, that that that pass when we were really doing a lot of stuff in and around Crystal River.

1:16:16Yeah.

1:16:17And King's Bay. Uh that was a lot of And Senator President Simpson's uh priorities uh And still repeat

1:16:27that.

1:16:28Yeah. ca uh fix these ch uh voting channels. That's all that's what we're looking for. Yeah. Yeah,

1:16:35Mr. Chairman Mariano just one more thing too I could Madam Chair.

1:16:37Yep.

1:16:38You know I worked very closely with the people up in Citrus as far as learning the project. When I found out what their project was at Regional Planning Council, I hadn't come here to present to us to show us what they were doing. So I'm fully supportive of what they're doing up there. At the same time I just want to make sure we did do what's right for us down here.

1:16:54You get you get treated differently in scalloping season. We don't need to be treated.

1:16:58Mm-hmm.

1:17:00You want to be treated differently. This this

1:17:03you know, we have one whole neighborhood called Bailey's Bluff who um Army Corps is denying the ability to do a maintenance stretch. And so at uh at low tide they cannot get out. And um we had the money from the um Restore Restore Act and we've been turned down because they uh something about the seagrass.

1:17:28And just think after the coming off of two hurricanes with Hurricane Helene A lot of s as you know in Pinellas County, a lot of more sand is now in those uh d you know w boating ways and in our canals in the communities. As you saw, the w uh sand got up to the roads up there. So You know, it's a challenge now. We're gonna have to uh do some maintenance dread to help with the stormwater and the runoff that we deal with um for future storms uh to try to get that sediment out of there.

1:17:57I and just touch on a little bit more if I could not care. So in talking to that, that's a that's a great point. One of the things that teams made, the great thing they did is they took all the muck That was stuck in there and got out. They had an eel grass government which is compatible down here as well. And what it actually does improves water quality tremendously by taking the muck out. If they restrict us from all these canals that we're going to be coming up, we've got a major product coming that up and down the coast. And we have many meetings on water to come, funding already in place to go forward with it. But this here would improve water quality tremendously if we can do the same

1:18:27things they did up there. And that's what we're going to try to do.

1:18:30Um, I I need to say thank you again to the legislature and it was during Representative Sproul's um uh at the end of his his term we were able to get a a sprinkle um that that allowed us to go into Gulf Harbors and line all the pipes there that were leaking and that were that we had salt water coming in and really affecting the New Port Richey. water treatment plant. So we we got about two three million dollars from the legislature and we lined every

1:19:01um pipe in Gulf Harbors and the water quality improved dramatically and also greatly um helped the Newport Regime plant that we sh we share. So that was a great project. So thank you very much.

1:19:16Very hopeful that after January 20th the Corps of Engineers will become

1:19:24we will. Yeah. Okay, Ralph?