7/14/1987 - Laserfiche WebLink

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JUL 14 W BOOK Scurlock asked if we shouldn't limit ourselves to just what is in our book. Director Keating stated that if this were a site plan, we would be limited to that, but since it is a special exception use, it gives the county the opportunity to take a broader look into addressing issues. Staff has been working closely with St. John's on the issue of protection of the sand ridge. Chairman Scurlock felt this area has been mined to the point where it is not a sand ridge any more. Director Keating stated that it has been mined to elevation 24. In much of this area, the mining plans were just approved in the last few years and it was specifically to an elevation where it was believed there was sufficient overburden remaining to preserve the integrity of the aquifer, but that actually was an unknown and has not been qualified. Chairman Scurlock noted that at our golf course, we are pumping out of a canal into a lake and asked the Administrator what is happening that the lake was drawn down. Administrator Balczun advised that it results from lack of rainfall lowering the water table in the area and also a very high rate of percolation through the sand. We are recharging the lake from the main canal at the course at the rate of about 660,000 gpd, and we did get permission from the Water District. Commissioner Bowman felt it is a terrible thing to pump the water from the canal which is polluted with all the waste from the groves right into the water she drinks from the shallow aquifer, and she believed that is a perfect example of why we should not allow these lakes at this time. Every time you open up a lake, you are poking a hole into the aquifer and exposing it to pollutants, even exposing it to the possibility of a nuclear accident. She believed that these lakes are a frivolous matter in any event since it just concerns aesthetics, and believed it is just as beautiful on a golf course to create a forest rather than a lake. 38 M