HEARING WITHOUT LISTENING

Editor, The Sun:

The Wakulla County Board of County Commissioners has heard countless citizens express their concerns about the proposed “protection” ordinance currently being considered by the BOCC.
The proposal would repeal the current protections without prohibiting the placement of gasoline storage tanks directly over known caves and conduits to Wakulla Springs and our drinking water supplies.
While publicly stating their support of setbacks from known caves, the BOCC refuses to include them because the locations supposedly can’t be “certified.” Many counties, state and federal agencies accept the existing maps as well as the Vulnerability studies, the BOCC however insists on some undefined “certification.”
I personally have used data provided by the Wakulla Karst Plains Project dive teams to install NWFWMD permitted wellheads for the HVAC units at the Wakulla Springs State Park Lodge. The continued refusal by the Wakulla County BOCC to utilize widely accepted data and refusal to hold workshops with interested groups or include setbacks for regulated materials over known and otherwise widely accepted caves and conduits leads one to believe that while public comment is encouraged, it falls on deaf ears.
Respectfully,

Peter J. Scalco
Crawfordville