PANAMA CITY — The nine-members of the Bay County RESTORE Act Advisory Committee have their work cut out for them.
That was the consensus Wednesday as the committee rifled through more than 40 presentations from agencies vying for a piece of a $6.3 million pot of money coming to the county from the RESTORE Act, legislation that dedicates a portion of the civil penalties from the 2010 BP oil spill to the five affected states.
Overall, 47 projects were submitted in the committee’s pre-proposal process, with funding requests totaling $45.8 million.
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Each submission was granted a five-minute presentation at Wednesday’s meeting, which began at 1:30 p.m. and continued into the evening hours. The committee now will work to narrow down those proposals based on a list of criteria, focusing on whether the projects would benefit the environment and the economy.
Committee chair and Panama City Beach restaurateur Jack Bishop said mid-meeting he was impressed with the “visionary” nature of the proposals — which ranged from oyster reef habitat restoration in St. Andrew Bay to the development of a Sports Village to draw visitors to Panama City Beach.
“I’m encouraged we can find a good way to utilize this money for Bay County to achieve the goals of the RESTORE Act,” Bishop said. “I think the board will do their homework.”
One proposal favored by Bishop came from Tallahassee-based company Dynamic Solutions, which pitched a comprehensive water quality and ecological assessment for the Bay County area to help officials make responsible environmental decisions in the future.
“I think it would be a tool for the future,” Bishop said. “It’s something we could all use in Bay County.”
Many of the projects submitted aimed to address water quality issues, with both Bay County and Panama City Beach pitching projects to move residential areas still using septic tanks to a central sewer system.
While Bishop said he is partial to projects that would create jobs in the area, he recognized St. Andrew Bay system as the epicenter of the Bay County environment and something that needs to be protected.
The committee will meet again Dec. 9 with a goal to drastically narrow the list — to about 10 proposals, Bishop said — that will move forward to the full application process.
“They’re very smart people,” Bishop said of the committee. “I think it’s going to be tough.”
Bay County’s $6.3 million in funds, expected to be available early next year, stem from the $1 billion settlement paid out by Transocean for the company’s involvement in the oil spill. Further funding, the expected bulk of the RESTORE Act, will be determined by the case against BP.
Projects that are not recommended for the first round of county funding will have the opportunity to reapply when further funds are released, but must start the process from the beginning.
The meeting also offered a public comment period before and after the project presentations.
Frank Martin, who chairs the Bay County Chamber of Commerce’s Government Affairs Committee, spoke in support of a proposal to explore the feasibility of reopening Bay County’s East Pass through the completion of an environmental impact statement and inlet management plan.
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“This project is part of our 2015 legislative plan,” Martin said. “We feel that reopening the East Pass would have a direct impact on commercial and recreational fishing, water quality and clarity for over 4,000 acres.”
Jessica Koelsch, Gulf restoration policy specialist for the National Wildlife Federation, encouraged the committee to consider projects that will improve both the environment and the economy.
“Many of these projects are going to address the environment and the economy, something the NWF has been saying since the RESTORE Act passed,” Koelsch said, speaking in support of projects for seagrass and oyster habitat restoration as well as those to address water quality. “At the end of the day, you’ll be able to point to something that will directly benefit the community.”