Swim hole park idea back afloat

Though they may be still some distance in the future, plans to utilize the old Big Pine swimming hole as a public park area and rest area for the Overseas Heritage Trail bike path got new life this week.

District Two County Commissioner George Neugent and county staff met with officials of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Greenways and Trails Tuesday to discuss developing the area.

The swimming hole, at the western end of Big Pine on the ocean side, has been closed to the public since the pilot whale rehabilitation effort was concluded there years ago. Officials closed the area due to concerns about whale excrement contaminating the waters.

Under the proposal put forward this week, however, the old borrow pit on the site would be partially filled to decrease its depth and facilitate natural tidal flushing, raising the quality of the water.

Returning it to swimming hole status wasn’t the primary thrust of the discussions, though.

About five years ago, the county put together a rough plan for the area that fronts on North Pine Channel, calling for picnic tables, small gazebos and a boardwalk lining the water. The plan also suggested building another boardwalk through the natural area of the site that would introduce users to the plant life that can be found in a typical coastal ecological community in the Lower Keys. Plans also called for the installation of kiosks at the property that would inform users of the aquatic life they might find in the swimming hole itself and the near shore waters there.

DEP and county officials agreed in principle Tuesday to put together a long-range plan to make that vision a reality.

“The problem now, of course, is money,” said Neugent.

After three years of ever-tighter budgets, the county has very little capital money that it could throw at even a small-scale project such as this.

Jena Brooks, OGT representative from Tallahassee, said her division has also taken some cutbacks in the state budget and would have no funds to earmark specifically for such a project.

Several potential sources of money were identified, however, that could help push the project forward.

DEP has several trail segments slated for construction in the next couple of years, particularly one that extends from Big Pine to the 7-Mile Bridge.

The estimate for that project is $3.7 million. However, if the work is done cheaper than that, DEP might be able to reroute some of that money to build a portion of the park area at the old swimming hole.

DEP owns the land and just recently took back management authority of the site from the US Fish & Wildlife Service. As part of that transition, DEP issued a contract to clear portions of the upland areas of debris and exotic vegetation, thus covering the site preparation costs under an existing contract.

Neugent said that the county cold look to tap “bricks and mortar” money from the Tourist Development Council to pay for part of the initial construction and the ongoing maintenance of the site, the latter of which DEP said it would not be able to afford to do with iffy state budgets in coming years.

According to TDC officials, the county could tap its capital construction money for District Advisory Council Two, which encompasses the south end of 7-Mile Bridge to Stock Island for both initial construction and ongoing maintenance. That fund, however, is capped by state statute at 10 percent of DAC 2’s revenues, or about $105,000 this year. Some $90,000 of that is already claimed by maintenance needs at Veteran’s Park. The county could also tap into money earmarked for nature centers with the boardwalk and educational aspects of the proposed plan, leaving about another $100,000 open yearly.

Neugent said he thinks the cost of the project might reach $1 million in initial outlay because both groups wanted to add a public restroom facility to the plans.

There are some public facilities along the planned 106-mile length of the bike path, but Brooks said most of those facilities are being provided by local businesses along the route that are opening up their in-house facilities for bikers and hikers in return for the increased traffic and a mention on the trail’s website.

“We don’t have the excess capital money in the county’s budget for a project like this at this time,” said Neugent. “And what capital money we get we’re going to have to try and earmark for wastewater.”

“But if we can get some capital money from DEP and supplement with a little bit from the county, either through impact fees or TDC, go at this in a phased approach, this is a workable project,” said Neugent.

Brooks said her agency could support the project.

“Anything we do out there would enhance the trail for users,” said Brooks.

There are still a host of details to be worked out, not the least of which could be permitting issues from other governmental agencies, whether vehicles could be parked at the site and how they would access it, and what various uses could take place without violating the parameters of the Conservation and Recreational Land program under which the site was initially purchased by the state.

“Once we have an agreement from DEP to sub-lease the property to the county, then we can begin to collaboratively work out the details on how to get it done,” said Neugent.

Brooks said she would have a draft lease agreement prepared for county officials to peruse “soon.”

The Board of County Commissioners approved pursuing the lease for this project in 2005 and that approval has been dormant since that time. The lease arrangement became convoluted then because USFWS was a middle man with management authority that the county had to go through. USFWS gave up its lease recently, clearing that hurdle for the groups.

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