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12/04/09:
Some thoughts on the "Crisis Area" on the west end

Those of us with properties in the "critical area" are realizing that we don't have 4 or 5 years to wait  for yet another study, and to raise the  $30- $40 million it will take for an engineered beach. IN the meantime, our beach houses, and the property under them, will be lost forever.

The current Mayor and previous Town Council have wasted 4 or 5 valuable years . . . . We have to move quickly, right now, in order to save what is left, or there will be no "west end" to study and engineer.

Some of the "common knowledge" regarding grants, funding, permitting, etc that has been circulating as "fact" for a number of years are not necessarily true. Many of these "barriers" to solving west end problems have never been explored with any intensity; as soon as there was any resistance, they completely backed off. There have been many missed opportunities to mitigate the damage over the past five years, while meanwhile, other communities have been taking care of their endangered coastline.

Did you know, for example, that Gulf Shores routinely puts the sand that is displaced by storms right back on the private property it came from? That's right- the sand piled up south of Bienville could have been put back under our houses, where it came from. It's a simple waiver to obtain, but one the Town Council and the Mayor just voted the other night not to pursue.

Did you also know that, over the past five years, we have not asked for any money to take emergency action to minimize the damage to the West End, until a beach renourishment project can be obtained (such as an offshore jetty to break up wave action, dredging sand to build our own berm, or putting a hardened sea wall, or groin at some point? Yes, that's true as well.

12/03/09: A visit today from Frazier Payne, on behalf of Congressman Jo Bonner's office; Town officials conspicuously absent.

Frazier Payne, a Field Representative from Congressman Bonner's office, came to the Island today to meet with Dauphin Island folks and hear our concerns. Congressman Bonner, you will recall, has requested a $1.5 million FY 2010 federal appropriation for Dauphin Island to fund a beach re-nourishment engineering feasibility study. Congressman Bonner also serves on the Appropriations Committee.

Unfortunately, the Mayor did not appear at the meeting. Neither did any of the Town Council representatives. Thankfully, two DIPOA members were present (Glenn Coffee and Capt. Jack Gaines) and a few concerned property owners (Nancy Meyer and Lisa Jones).

These folks asked Mr. Payne to accompany them to the West End Critical Area, where he was shocked to see the profound loss of land that has occurred this year.


12/02/09: Very disturbing Town Council Meeting:

During the Agenda meeting on Monday, and the Council Meeting on Tuesday night, some rather disturbing developments were revealed:

1) The Council will not authorize placing the sand moved during tropical storm Ida back where it came from, even though a whole new tier of houses is now encroached upon by the Gulf.

2) The Council voted to renew the contract of lobbyist Rod Grimm, who is paid $125,000. per year, but has produced only one small grant for $400K.

3) The Council voted to not renew the Contract of ERIS (Liberty) for an equal amount, although they have brought in nearly $4 million dollars during the same time period.

Even more disturbing is the fact that the one grant brought in by Mr. Grimm will be given to a contractor (WRSCompass) without going through the competitive bid process, although they have not done this type of work before. Why not put it out for bid? Ask the Mayor.

When pressed by a local resident as to why such a large contract would not be put out out for competitive bidding, the Mayor stated that he was told by NOAA that competitive bidding "wasn't required", which would seem to contradict both published law, and common sense.


4) After the Agenda Meeting, the Mayor, when pressed by a resident to answer questions regarding the critical situation on the West end, revealed that there is currently no plan to save the West End, that there is no monies, no studies and no projects currently in the works to save the West End.

Folks, the West End is disappearing rapidly, and there is nothing really being done about it, except trying to raise money for another "study". There will not be anything left to study in another year or two. The time has come for action; is the Mayor and Council up to the task? It sure doesn't look like it to me.



11/30/09:

Hartman & DIPOA v. Army Corp of Engineers suit settled.

The Judge has decided to accept the settlement, as per the second amendment to the Agreement.

In other news, Bill Harper has resigned as POA President. Bruce Jones has assumed the position of DIPOA President, VP is now Jay Minus. Welcome to the new DIPOA President.

Read Bruce's letter to the POA membership.

9/02/09:

Are you part of the class-action lawsuit settlement? You might be . . . . without knowing it.

There are 1700 property owners who had opted-in in 2006 to be Class Members of the Corps of Engineers Lawsuit. Click here to see if your name is listed.

In addition, there are 238 property owners who may be unaware they are part of this Class Action Settlement, because they had  purchased a property whose previous Owner had already opted "in".

Click here to see this group.

The "Fairness Hearing" is scheduled for Sept. 15, 2009

As a reminder, the Fairness Hearing is scheduled for September 15, 2009, starting at 1:00 p.m. The hearing will be held at the United States District Courthouse, 113 Saint Joseph Street, Mobile, Alabama 36602.

Please attend, if at all possible, especially if you objected to the Proposed Second Addendum.

8/14/09: DIPOA Meeting goes into double-overtime

There were many issues addressed during a meeting that ran for more than 3 hours in length, including some rather spirited opinions. Many Owners have concerns regarding the terms of the proposed Settlement, and we will post a more detailed summary in the upcoming days, but the most important items are summarized below:

The attorney representing the approximately 1,700 Property Owners who are participating in the Class-Action lawsuit against the Army Corp of Engineers made a presentation explaining the history of the lawsuit, and the Settlement Agreement reached between the parties last week.

• The Settlement Agreement has been signed by the three parties involved; Mr. Hartman, who brought the suit, the POA, on behalf of the Owners represented in the "Class Action" (basically, owners who opted to join the suit, back in 2006) and the US Government, on behalf of the Corp of Engineers.

• The Settlement does not become effective until approved by a Judge, and the Judge will not approve the proposed Settlement until after a "Fairness Hearing" is held on September 15, 2009, in order to let those of us who are affected by this Settlement to have our say on the matter. The Judge could decide to approve the settlement or reject the settlement. Likewise, any of the three parties who signed the Settlement Agreement could decide to reject the Agreement at that point, too.
  

• Notices were to be mailed out to all Owners today, notifying them of the terms of the proposed settlement, along with a form to mark "Yes" or "No" to indicate whether the Owner agrees with the settlement, or not, and also a form to fill out if the Owner wishes to address the Court during the hearing to be held on September 15, 2009
  

Responding to concerns voiced by Property Owners, the attorney distributed a document showing a change in the placement of a sentence regarding 5th Amendment property rights. See the settlement document change handout.

These concerns revolve around a portion of the agreement that requires Dauphin Island Property Owners to agree not to sue the US Government or the State of Alabama for land lost due to dredging/dumping practices in the past, and in the future.

We are in the process of gathering more information about what this really means, and will report back with more information.

Other items addressed during the meeting:

• DIPOA Email List

• DIPOA Website
  

• DIPOA Scholarship Fund

• DIPOA Boat Launch under consideration

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .more  later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8/13/09  DIPOA Meeting tonight, 6 pm at the Clubhouse

8/12/09     Town Hall Meeting-   Location Changed                              In anticipation of a good turnout, the Town Hall meeting with Congressman Jo Bonner will now be held at the Catholic Church, on August 17, from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

8/11/09:  Questions arise about the proposed settlement     with the Corp of Engineers

It is very important that Dauphin Island Owners learn how the details of the proposed settlement affects you personally and the property you own.

After a conversation with Richard Davis, attorney, who represented the POA in the lawsuit, it was confirmed that, that as an individual owner, you will be giving up all rights- past, present and future, to sue the Corps of Engineers, The United States, and the State of Alabama against all liabilities including the loss of our property due to future beach erosion caused by the Corps of Engineers.

Based the settlement, we will be giving up our rights, under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, for taking property without compensation under the Just Compensation Clause. In essence, every property owner on Dauphin Island will be giving up their property rights for a total of $1.5 million, or about $1,000 or less per Owner. 

The DIPOA has posted a link to this agreement here:

Settlement with the Corp

8/5/09: Reminder . . . . meet with Congressman Bonner!

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You can go to this link for information about your specific Congressman, Congresswoman or Senator:

http://directory.usayfoundation.org/

If you would like to read more about this, you can go to the following link to see the full text of an article about the approval for the billion defense  appropriation and the money that has been approved for the Barrier Island Restoration: 

http://www.sunherald.com/local/story/1423342.html. 

• Actions that can be taken to place further pressure on Congressman Bonner and Senator Shelby, including setting up a future forum requesting attendance of Congressman Jo Bonner and possibly others.

• Request that the Town reconsider its relationship with its Washington lobbyist who has been retained to help get a beach restoration project in view of last week's Congressional vote to provided $439,000,000 to restore Mississippi's barrier islands, and "$0" for Alabama's lone barrier island. The lobbyist did not inform the Town that the legislation was pending.

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