• E. Shell Beach Access Stair Replacement to Begin

Final Permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and Indian River County (IRC) have been attained and reconstruction of the E. Shell Lane beach access stairs will commence April 19 with a proposed finish date of April 30. 

Because the sea turtle nesting season started March 1, these permits are a variance granted to us by FDEP and IRC and require daily monitoring of the worksite by sea turtle nesting surveyors. SIA President John Lehnhardt will coordinate communication with the sea turtle team to ensure there is no impact on turtle nesting by the construction activity. April 30 is the FDEP deadline for finishing the stairs as nesting of Loggerhead Sea turtles usually doesn’t pick up until after May 1.

Thanks to our contractor Tom Accario of Quality Home Repairs, LLC for expediting these permit issues with the state and the county. Oddly, two residents of E. Shell Lane attempted to stop the reconstruction of the stairs by protesting to the county about the contractor chosen to do this project. Their objections were based on personal dis-like of the contractor and on licensing mis-information proven to be incorrect by the County’s decision to grant the permit for the reconstruction of the E. Shell beach stairs.

 If these two individuals had been successful, the deadline for completion of the project would not have been reached and the stairs would have had to wait for replacement until after November 1.  It’s likely, the cost of the replacement would have gone up considerably, potentially costing each Summerplace member an additional assessment. The unacceptable action of these two individuals also represents a total disregard and disservice to the SIA community, particularly those who use the E. Shell beach access stairs. These SIA residents could have been without beach stairs for up to seven months if the permit had been delayed.

Additionally, the action of these two SIA members represents an interference in the fiduciary responsibility of the SIA Board of Directors, who have sole oversight of the contracting and permitting process for SIA as described in detail in the SIA By Laws, Article IV, Section 5.

The SIA Board of Directors

John Lehnhardt. President, SIA Inc.
1991 W. Barefoot Pl.