Flagler County government and the Town of Marineland administration have drafted a joint plan to reassure the state agency with oversight of the River to Sea Preserve that the two local governments are still capable of managing the Preserve, which had fallen out of compliance with state requirements and put both governments at risk of losing ownership. The now-departed Ragga Surf Cafe, the popular mobile food and gift shop, had been at the center of the controversy.
The 90-acre preserve at the northern edge of Flagler County, between the ocean and the Intracoastal, is characterized by its long boardwalk along the ocean and its rich fauna of hardwoods and wildlife visitors experience through biking and hiking trails. Marineland and Flagler County administer the preserve through a management plan overseen by Florida Communities Trust.
Last year the Trust told the two local governments they were out of compliance with the plan. The catalyst for a stern letter by the state to the local; governments was the state’s discovery that Flagler County had–with the County Commission’s unvetted approval–allowed a private business, Ragga Surf Cafe, to set up shop with its truck and two trailers at the south end of the preserve, where Ragga Surf did brisk business. Ragga Surg had just been evicted from private land in Marineland. The county allowed to set up its operations on the public land in September, without approval from Florida Communities Trust.
That violation, along with other violations of the management plan. prompted the state agency to threaten to revoke Flagler County’s and Marineland’s ownership of the River to Sea Preserve. At a meeting of the Marineland town commission in late December, which no official from the Communities Trust attended, Marineland and Flagler County officials agreed to work together to resolve the violations and return to compliance. They set up a working group involving the two government’s attorneys and land management staffers, and pledged to produce a joint document for the two governments to approve by mid-January.
The letter to Melanie Orozco of Florida Communities Trust is that joint document. It is to be reviewed by Marineland and county officials at Marineland’s Community Redevelopment Agency meeting immediately preceding the Marineland Town Commission meeting Thursday, at 5 p.m. in Marineland.
Notably, the document is entirely silent on Ragga Surf Cafe or the future of the Preserve as a location for such a concession business. County Administrator Heidi Petito issued a notice to Ragga Surf in mid-November, informing the business that the county’s allowance for it to use the Preserve, offered as a temporary, emergency measure, would not be renewed past Dec. 31. That meant Ragga Surf was evicted from those grounds past that date. The county had in August discussed issuing a request for proposals that would have sought bids from companies like Ragga Surf to establish a permanent concession at the Preserve. But the county administration never followed through on the RFP, and in the meantime the state intervened, making any such plans in the future unlikely, as they would again risk a backlash from the state.
Ragga Surf ended operations at the Preserve at the end of December. It has since found a new location, if relatively far from Marineland: at 134 Riberia Street in downtown St. Augustine, along the an Sebastian River waterfront. Ragga Surf resumes operations there starting Friday (Jan. 17).
The county was not aware of Ragga Surf’s plans when last asked by a reporter last week, but Assistant County Attorney Sean Moylan said efforts to address the non-compliance issue had been fruitful.
“To ensure that all non-compliance issues are resolved promptly and efficiently, the County and the Town have conducted a thorough review of the compliance findings to confirm the scope and details of each issue and mutually developed a detailed corrective action plan,” the letter to be signed by Petito, along with Marineland Town Planner Janis Fleet and Marineland Mayor Gary Inks, states. “Prior to implementation of corrective actions, the County and Town are seeking feedback from Florida Communities Trust, with the intent to move quickly to resolve these outstanding issues.”
The county and the city’s letter focuses especially on the removal of concrete slabs it had built in the preserve as foundations for planned cottages to be rented to tourists. The cottages were never built. The slabs have been an eyesore. The county now proposes to conduct a survey of the grounds to identify gopher tortoise burrows before removing the tortoises, demolishing the slabs and removing them. Demolition, done by county crews, would take place in February and March. A bathhouse on the Preserve grounds would also be demolished this month, with money from Marineland. The county and the town propose to build fencing around a lift station, and to build new restrooms in late spring or early summer.
The management plan is to include “language to highlight annual events hosted at the site within Special Management Conditions, emphasizing their alignment with conservation goals and community engagement.” The state had criticized the county and the city for allowing special events at the Preserve, including a recurring (and very popular) open air market organized by Ragga Surf, neither with state permission nor with any kind of fees to the county or the town to offset maintenance costs.
Further improvements to the Preserve will include improvements to existing trails, additional signage, the removal of dead trees, and the removal of invasive species, including creeping oxeye, St. Augustine grass, Brazilian pepper, cogon grass, silver thorn, giant reed, torpedo grass, and asparagus sprengeri fern, with monitoring of Chinese tallow.
The county and the city pledge to have sustained communications between each other and the Florida Communities Trust (though in fairness t the two local governments, FTC’s communications skills, once past the hectoring, have been lacking).
“We are confident that these measures will not only resolve the current issues but also position us for long-term success in managing grant-funded conservation projects,” the letter states. “We deeply value the opportunity to work with Florida Communities Trust/Florida Department of Environmental Protection and are committed to maintaining the highest standards of accountability and transparency.”
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