By the time I reached writing about the fourth part in the Upham Beach "battle over the T-groins" series, I realized a few things. Any engineer, financial analyst or project manger would notice that project implementation numbers were missing from the financial analysis. Thus, financial claims of savings are misled. But more importantly, before proving whether or not the project will save money, the question to ask is: "Are the T-groins a sound investment?"
So let’s get to the point: While Pinellas County stands by the plans currently instated at Upham Beach, the Suncoast Chapter Surfrider Foundation charges forward on their mission to get the T-groins removed. "Big, wide, safe beach," rings as their motto.
Some people claim they have a beach (well, at least before the construction too place), and they did — at taxpayers expense. Compare the amount of sand deposited in the last 10 years versus the sand deposited there since 1975; the total amount allocated over the last decade with the T-groin structure is greater than the prior 25 years without!
This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2011.
