Coastal Community Association to meet June 8

Posted on by Julia Cunningham

ST. ANDREW AND ST. JOSEPH BAYS ESTUARY PROGRAM STAFF, WITH DR. JESSICA GRAHAM AT CENTER.
By Pat Hardman

If you live within two miles of Gulf County’s coast or own property in the county, you will want to attend the Coastal Community Association annual meeting on Saturday, June 8.

For over 16 years, CCA has been bringing county officials, environmental organizations, parks and services managers to present great information concerning Gulf County and how to protect their property and quality of coastal living in Gulf County.

The annual meeting will be at the First United Methodist Church of Port St. Joe, which is on Highway 98 on the bay, at 1001 Constitution Drive.

Meet and talk one-on-one with experts about the environment from St. Andrews and St. Joseph Bays estuary program, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Marine Fisheries, The Turtle Center, International Dark Skies, the University of Florida’s Florida Institute on Building Environmental Resiliency (FIBER), the St. Joe Bay State Buffer Preserve and more. 

Learn what is being done to preserve the beauty and environmental diversity of Gulf County, and find out how to become a part of protecting this environment. The first Roundtable Discussions are from 9:15 to 10 a.m. ET but if you are not an early bird, the discussions will also be held from noon to 12:45 p.m.

At the general meeting from 10 a.m. to noon, CCA will bring together a lineup of speakers from Gulf County officials to federal programs affecting Gulf County. Hear the latest on the projects fighting beach erosion, on Cape San Blas. CCA has developed a presentation showing the changes on the Cape, especially around the stump hole and Eglin since the mid 1980s that is chilling in how much change has occurred. Solutions on how to slow it down will be discussed.

The Gulf County Citizens Coalition for a Healthy Future will discuss the plan that has been proposed to drill for oil in the Apalachicola River and what can be done to stop this at the state level.

Security, taxes, county initiatives – hear from Sheriff Mike Harrison, Tax Appraiser Mitch Burke and Commissioners Patrick Farrell and Jack Husband and Gulf Fire and Rescue. Great information you need to know. Time is allotted for questions and answers.

If you own property in Florida, you can register to vote at the meeting. John Hanlon, supervisor of elections in Gulf County, will be ready to sign you up. CCA believes your vote counts even more in this little county then it may count in cities that are much bigger than all of Gulf County. CCA encourages property owners to change their voting registration to Florida.

Dr. Pat Hardman is the president of the Coastal Community Association of Gulf County. Call 850-229-7799 for information or check out the Facebook page Coastal Community Association of Gulf County.