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demonstrated 2 bottles of water and sand; suggesting that one bottle contained the sand used in restoring the Ft. Pierce beaches which made the water cloudy and the other contained sand from Humiston Park which settled to the bottom, leaving the water clear. Mr. Irvin also used the ELMO to show several pictures, attempting to illustrate that the shoreline has -not been eroded and that sand restoration causes large escarpments which will have to be bulldozed. He also believed the sand would bury the offshore reefs and harm that environment. Commissioner Adams had asked Mike Blatus, a local photographer, to leave several photographs of the reef whose environment concerns all citizens. Chairman Macht stated that he is a diver and can relate that reefs are often covered with sand after a storm. That is a natural process which is temporary and the reefs are not so fragile that they are destroyed by the sand layer. Mr. Irvin asked the Board to bring this matter to a referendum and stated that he felt there had not been sufficient advertisement of the workshops regarding this matter. Commissioner Goin also demonstrated several photographs graphically illustrating the erosion at the Ocean Grill, Conn Beach, Summerplace, Crusty's and Sectors 3, 5 and 7. Commissioner Tippin stated that he did not take any pictures but has been here a long time and remembers when you could walk out to the reefs on the beaches. Bill Glynn also demonstrated several photographs, specifically of Sector 3 at Wabasso Beach, the Aquarius Hotel in Sector 5, the Ocean Grill also in Sector 5, and several other eroded areas in Wabasso. He felt that sufficient notice and study has been given to this problem. He also noted that the City of Vero Beach had relinquished its rights to the maintenance of the beaches to the County some time ago and Vero Beach will never again be the largest city in the county. He related that Martin County has spent 11 million dollars on their beach restoration project and has been hit by several storms, but the sand has not been swept away. It takes 6 months to a year to build up a natural shoreline after the restoration and the water does clear up. He also noted that there are 1,000 property owners inNorth Beach and 3,000 in South Beach. One-third of the taxes are paid by these residents, who compromise less than 9% of the taxpayers. He urged the Board to support the plan and thanked staff for a wonderful job. (CLERK'S NOTE: NO PHOTOGRAPHS WERE SUPPLIED TO THE CLERK'S OFFICE FOR FILING.) JULY 209 1999 -47- 1. 600K DJ PAGE 232