A massive boat ramp project is triggering a donnybrook in coastal Alabama, pitting Baldwin County commissioners against the city of Orange Beach.
The barbs are fierce and pointed: The Orange Beach mayor labels the project as a "fake and a fraud" that's designed to score quick publicity during the election season. One of the county commissioners says that the mayor's slams are "a flat-out lie."
And the stakes are heightened by the fact that various of the protagonists are squaring off against one another during the June 5 Republican primary.
The project, pursued by the County Commission, would develop 44.5 acres along the Intracoastal Waterway in Orange Beach - at a location away from the congested beachfront -- into a sprawling marine-access venue offering 12 public boat ramps and 450 parking spaces.
The city, however, says it's been left in the dark, not even being notified about the commission's plan to vote last week on a letter of intent to move the project forward. "It's just a bunch of campaign gimmicks," said City Councilman Jerry Johnson.
Commissioners counter that there's nothing secret about it; that the project has been months in the making. Said Commissioner Charles Skip" Gruber: "It's not political. We've been working on this a long time."
Johnson is running against Gruber on June 5, seeking to oust him from the District 4 commission job. They're the only two District 4 candidates on the GOP ballot.
'A perfect spot'
County Commission Chairman Chris Elliott, who is running for the Senate District 32 seat that encompasses most of Baldwin County, said the Intracoastal boat ramp has been in the planning stages for "well over eight months."
Elliott said that Orange Beach ought be excited by the project's regional benefits and its potential to ease crowding at two existing boat launches. He said, "It's a perfect spot and to say anything other than that shows a lack of understanding."
Elliott said that commissioners acted last week to shift the project into gear after the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that $188 million of federal offshore oil and gas revenues would be disbursed to four Gulf states - Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas - through the second phase of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA).
The boat ramp project is estimated to cost around $10 million, which would cover both land purchases and venue development.
Elliott and others said that Gov. Kay Ivey will be the one to decide how to slice the GOMESA pie. She's scheduled to be in Orange Beach Thursday for the ribbon-cutting at a new interpretative center at Gulf State Park.
"We've been laser-focused on (GOMESA) and knew that 2018 would be a big year when it would start coming in. And that is real money to do real projects for south Baldwin County," said Elliott, who is pushing a campaign slogan, "Get Our Share," in his Senate contest.
"The facts show the timing of this was dictated by the disbursement of the GOMESA funding," said Elliott. "It has nothing to do with the election or anything like that."
But Orange Beach City Councilman Jeff Boyd said he has his doubts. He's one of Elliott's Senate opponents on June 5.
"I was blown away that three weeks out from the election, they announced this without a single courtesy call to the city of Orange Beach, the mayor, or to anybody," Boyd said of the county commissioners. "That's not working together. To me, it was politics as usual."
'Election-time ploy'
County commissioners say that Orange Beach should have been well aware of the project by virtue of Mayor Tony Kennon's membership on the RESTORE Act Council. Back in December, the boat ramp was added to a roster of projects that could qualify to receive RESTORE Act grants through the state's BP oil spill settlement.
Kennon, however, rips the project - and the commission's latest efforts - as political grandstanding. "I think it's a fake and a fraud and nothing but an election-time ploy to get votes," he said.
Kennon, who is not running for anything on June 5, said his biggest complaint is the lack of communication from the county to the city. He said he wonders if government environmental regulators will even allow it.
The massive property has yet to be sold, and the creation of a boat launch complex will requires U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval, as well as a nod from the Alabama Department of Natural Resources.
In an interview with AL.com, Chris Blankenship, ADNR commissioner, said: "I'm familiar with this project. As a state, we are in favor of more boating access for the public in coastal Alabama. But I don't know much else."
Another Kennon question is whether Ivey will allot GOMESA dollars toward the project as commissioners seem so confident will occur.
Kennon said, "The county has never shown us interest in helping us with anything, period. It irks me they use Orange Beach as a political ploy, three weeks before the election. That type of political nonsense makes me mad."
It's County Commissioner Tucker Dorsey who brands Kennon's claims as a "flat out lie."
"There has been on one pushing harder than I have outside of Orange Beach to get that Wolf Bay bridge built," said Dorsey, referring to a bridge construction project in Orange Beach that will be paid for primarily with lodging tax money.
Dorsey, who's embroiled in his own re-election battle against Republicans Billie Jo Underwood and Will McDaniel, said that a new and large boat ramp is much needed, and that Orange Beach hasn't been able to make it happen on its own.
"His phone works, too," Dorsey said of Kennon. "Orange Beach hasn't done anything in six years ... all they did was make everyone mad on Ono Island."
The Ono Island reference harkens to a dispute several years ago, when a group of Ono Island property owners objected to a proposed nearby boat ramp for the city with a prime location near the Gulf of Mexico.
'Boating community'
The two existing public boat ramps in Orange Beach - both owned by the state, are at Cotton Bayou and Boggy Point. Combined, they offer just four launches, which can pose problems and long waits during peak warm weather months.
There's also a single public ramp in Gulf Shores, under Alabama 59 in Gulf Shores, although Elliott describes it as being in a state of disrepair. And there are boat launches in Lillian and Josephine, but both are a far distances from the Gulf.
A map of the proposed boat ramp project along the Intracoastal Waterway in Orange Beach, Ala. The proposed $10 million facility would include 14 new boat ramps and 450 parking spaces. It is located near the Baldwin Beach Express toll bridge. (map courtesy of the Baldwin County Commission).
Ken Grimes, the city administrator for Orange Beach, said it's been a while since city focused on a boat ramp project. City priorities have shifted, he said, to roadway/transportation needs and to the construction of a new school.
He said he's unsure whether the county's ramp project is the right solution. He raised concerns about the ability of marine patrols to readily reach it. Orange Beach marine police are stationed at Perdido Pass, nearly a 45-minute boat ride away.
"We are definitely a boating community so access to water is important," said Grimes. "But then security on the water is also top priority."
Grimes also there are also concerns about who'd be responsible for maintaining roads there, whether security officers would have to be posted on site, whether it would be open year-round and whether users would be charged fees.
"These are the kinds of questions that are created without any information from the agency that is talking about it," said Grimes, referring to the County Commission. "We had no knowledge of the project."