Faced with an ultimatum from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Flagler County government has outlined a timeline to the federal agency that it hopes will buy it more time before the Corps redirects $17 million earmarked for dune reconstruction in Flagler Beach. Once that money is redirected, there’s no telling when it may be re-appropriated for use in Flagler. The Corps has been indulgent so far, extending the deadline previously.
The timeline would have the county sue two property owners by May 2 for eminent domain, with a court judgment sought by late November. Only by January 2023 would the Corps be able to bid out and start construction on the $25 million dunes-reconstruction project the federal government agreed to pay for in 2017. Flagler County was responsible for the balance of the money outside the federal appropriation. It secured state dollars.
On Jan. 6 the Jacksonville-based District Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sent Flagler County government the ultimatum regarding the long-delayed project to rebuild 2.6 miles of dunes in Flagler Beach: “If the County is unable to demonstrate that the needed real estate will be acquired within a reasonable amount of time, whether voluntarily or by eminent domain, the Corps may need to consider whether the project should be placed in a deferred status,” Col. James L. Booth wrote.
Booth was referring to the 141 easements the Corps needs signed from all the property owners whose portions of dune “remnants” on the east side of State Road A1A includes areas the Corps needs to rebuild the dunes. Without those easements, the Corps can’t proceed with the plan to dump upward of 550,000 cubic yards of dredged sand on the beach. The Corps has been seeking those easements since October 2018 “to minimize the risk of delays to constructing the project.”
The county secured 138 easements in the nearly three and a half years since. But two owners have yet to sign easements for three remnants. The county is threatening–and now promising–eminent domain proceedings to “take” the easements (not the land: no land is being acquired, or taken, by any government, only the authority of working on the land is being secured.) So far the two owners are still not signing.
Booth gave the county a Feb. 11 deadline for what he termed an “update.”
The county has been threatening eminent domain action since October 2020, but while still focusing on securing the easements voluntarily. Why the delays? “Petitioning the courts for eminent domain was not an option during the time of the COVID pandemic when court schedules were substantially stalled and the volume of cases we would have needed to initiate were substantial,” Hadeed wrote the Corps. “As if to add to our burdens, the same pandemic complicated our efforts to have easements signed and for in-person meetings to further educate owners.”
The threats were nevertheless part of the strategy. If that didn’t work, then the county would move to the next step. County Attorney Al Hadeed emailed Flagler Beach City officials last month to inform them that this time, the suits would proceed. Hadeed didn’t say when.
But the filing of the suit was not quite imminent. Several steps, “pre-suit requirements,” must be taken first. That explanation was part of Hadeed’s letter to Booth.
For example, even though the county commission has authorized eminent domain proceedings regarding the two owners, surveys are to be completed (they have been) and appraisals of the property certified by March 1. On March 7, the county commission is expected to approve a resolution approving the amount of money to be spent in the proceedings. “This also confirms that the County only intends to “take” the right to repair and renourish the beaches and is not seeking ownership of the dune remnants,” Hadeed wrote Booth.
By law, the county must then make a written offer of monetary compensation to the two owners, even though most of the other owners ceded the land voluntarily. A fund-raising effort led by Flagler Beach residents made money available to earlier holdouts. Some took the money. But those were private transactions. The two owners will get more opportunities to negotiate based on the amount of money the county is prepared to offer them. “The County has been quite transparent and clear about what it is able to do and not do for the owners,” Hadeed wrote.
Only then, on May 2, would the county file the pleadings with the court–the actual law suit, along with a show cause order that would set a date for the so-called “quick take” hearing. That will take place between May 2 and September 12, depending on the court’s calendar. The judge is expected to be Circuit Court Judge Terence Perkins, who would then presumably rule by Nov. 21. Even then, the court will have 20 days to remit the funds for the taking (the county doesn’t do so directly to the property owners). The funds are from those the county commission will have approved. The county will then get the lands certifications for the three parcels in question, by Dec. 30.
One more complication. The county got a lease from the Department of Interior to dredge sand from the sea floor some nine miles off shore for the project. But the lease was narrowly tailored for the project’s initial estimate of needed sand. Hadeed wrote booth that since then, storms have eroded yet more sand from the beach, requiring more than the original estimate to be dredged. That will require an amendment to the federal lease.
“We pledge our full efforts in bringing this to a prompt conclusion. Accordingly, we will apprise you of reaching each of the milestones as and when we complete them,” Hadeed wrote Booth.
County Attorney Al Hadeed’s Letter and Timeline to the Corps of Engineers (2022):
Click to access Letter-to-Colonel-Booth-Army-Corps-of-Engineers-dated-Feb-1.pdf
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Robin says
There is no excuse for this 18 month delay. It is the County’s reluctance to sue for eminent domain that will kill this beach enhancement project . God help us that we do not have a direct hurricane or another n’easter this year. If I owned oceanfront property and this project fails, I’d be selling.
And then these property owners are going to be hit this year with huge insurance increases based on the new FEMA maps that came out this past October. When I asked County Officials if they had the new maps last fall, the reply was “No, FEMA had not sent them.”
I discovered later that the local governments have to request them. SMH.
Mark says
Let the Army corps move on! It’s not in the books for flagler county! Let the waves wash the sand away taking what’s formally known as a1a with them. Use one of the other westwardly roads to take its place. I believe they are already set up for this, by leaving the home owners a nice dirt ally to access their property. Bye bye A1A
ASF says
Sue the hold-outs for any damage that might result from their selfish non-compliance.
Rxx says
” The county is threatening–and now promising–eminent domain proceedings..”
Then do it. At the end of the day, it’s not the homeowner’s property. If the state was building some highway or commercial plaza through their properties the land would have already been razed by now.
Concerned Citizen says
Actually the easements are the home owners property. It came with the purchase of the property. Sorry folks don’t like it that part of their property is on the beach side. This would be a non issue anywhere else.
Dennis says
It should have been done a long time ago! Was the county too busy trying to locate property to buy that was another white elephant, that was not needed?
Concerned Citizen says
So Flagler County will have the easements taken care of but it will have taken them 5 years. There is no excuse for that kind of a delay. They should have sued for eminent domain years ago. And what about the rest of the county’s beach that has been devastated by storms and needs the same treatment as is planned for Flagler Beach. Why have they not even filed for the dredging permits yet. There is no excuse for these kinds of delays. Our homes will be washed into the ocean before this gets done.
Mark says
The homes were never yours but always the oceans. You can’t honestly build a home on a beach with rising sea levels and expect to have it there forever!? That would be a very uneducated thought and the homes on the ocean costs lots of money so im sure anyone living there has a brain and knew eventually they would lose their investment to Mother Nature.
Concerned Citizen says
Lot’s of folks advocating very easily that the County just come in and do what they want with someone else’s property.
Just wondering how you would feel if it was yours?
Skibum says
I know the wheels of government move slowly, but there really is no excuse for the extended, multiple year delay for such a critical project to protect one of Flagler County’s most precious assets. And that is especially true since we all saw exactly what happened to large portions of A1A when the force and fury of Hurricane Matthew roared ashore in 2016. Businesses and residents were disrupted and some completely uprooted for many months, and it cost millions of our tax dollars to repair the damage. No telling how much revenue was lost to the affected businesses. If the Army Corps of Engineers ends up re-directing the $17,000,000 that the federal government has allocated to Flagler Beach’s dune restoration project because of all of the local delays and inaction, we will pay a huge price in the long run and will have nobody to blame but the idiot hold-outs and to some extent, our local county leaders who should have been much more aggressive in obtaining the easements in court. I’m still holding my breath, but I’ve become so winded and exasperated just witnessing this debacle.
Jay Rhame says
The North end of Flagler Beach has problems too. Not only are the dunes in jeopardy of erosion from the ocean but also from cars parking on them. If you ride down A1A on a weekday morning when not many cars are parked along the beach you’ll see the encroachment on the dunes. It’s understandable that people want to be away from traffic but in some places cars could park two abreast and not be on any vegetation since it’s been slowly killed over the years by people parking just a little farther away from the road. There have been washouts at a few places but as the height of the dune gets worn down a little each year there will probably be more. A few signs warn of fines but they face west so are hard to see while driving down A1A. It would be nice if people would park just a little off A1A but I’m afraid that wont happen without some encouragement.
Motherworry says
A 6 page letter to say we haven’t done a damn thing! This has become a joke! These commissioners are like the Gong Show waiting room. Do your damn job! Go to court and get this done.