Fishing pier report overdue

The report holding up Navarre Beach’s fishing pier project is overdue.

A National Marine Fisheries Service official said Monday a federally required biological opinion due to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by Nov. 13 is in the final stages of review and should be delivered “in a day or so.”

David Bernhardt, director of the service’s Protected Resources Division in St. Petersburg didn’t explain why the review is late and wouldn’t discuss specifics of the report, but said a biological opinion rarely blocks projects.

“It can, in very rare cases, be used to completely stop a project when the project is determined to endanger the very existence of a species,” he said, but more often, the report requires steps to mitigate possible impacts to protected species.

Hurricane Ivan destroyed the existing fishing pier in September 2004 and Hurricane Dennis further destabilized the remaining structure the following July. The county is seeking permission to raze and remove the old pier and build the new one slightly east of the current location.

County officials expected the permit to be issued in June. But when the corps submitted the request to the National Marine Fisheries Service for review, the fisheries service decided to require a study to determine how area sea turtle and gulf sturgeon populations would be affected.

If the biological opinion were received this week, the corps likely would issue the permit in early December, according project engineer Wayne Lasch of Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan, the county’s consultant. And bidding for the project could be completed by early February. Lasch said the projected completion date depends on which of several bid options the county approves.

For more on this story, see the Nov. 20 issue of the Navarre Press, or subscribe online.